Following Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis reveal, series co-creator says he'd prefer "exploring new lost worlds" over more remakes

Tomb Raider co-creator Paul Douglas has taken to social media to share his thoughts on the two upcoming Tomb Raider games that were revealed at The Game Awards 2025. After initial disappointment that the next entry in the series, Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, would be yet another remake of the first game in the series, he claims that we will be getting the "best of both worlds" after a trailer for a completely new entry, Tomb Raider: Catalyst, was shown.

The first game in the long-enduring Tomb Raider series has received numerous reboots, remasters, and re-releases over the years, with the most recent one launching in 2024 as the Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered Collection. Upon the reveal of yet another Tomb Raider remake, Douglas wrote on Bluesky, "She's back apparently. Personally I'd prefer exploring new lost worlds than another remake/remaster/reimagining of something we crafted under intense duress in the 90's. Fingers crossed, eh."

Rawr! She's back apparently. Personally I'd prefer exploring new lost worlds than another remake/remaster/reimagining of something we crafted under intense duress in the 90's. Fingers crossed, eh. Dinosaurs will always be cool though...

— @cnhyv.bsky.social (@cnhyv.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2025-12-15T12:36:23.639Z

Lara Croft's first outing was developed by a core team of just six people over 18 months, allegedly including 6 months of crunch time during which the team slept in the office. In an interview with ArsTechnica, Nathan McCree, composer on Tomb Raider, said, "I saw several people walking out of that building looking very grey from not having slept for 72 hours and feeling rather ill. There were camp beds in various places around the building where people would sleep. Many people were sleeping under their desks or in their chair. Even in a cupboard. I found somebody asleep in a cupboard once.”

Co-creators Toby Gard and Douglas allegedly fell out with publisher Eidos Interactive over disagreements with marketing. Tomb Raider 2's programmer Gavin Rummery told Ars Technica that Gard wanted Lara Croft to be portrayed as sophisticated. In Gard's own words, he thought Lara should appear "cool, collected, in control," and that "it was never the intention to create some kind of 'page 3' girl to star in Tomb Raider."

If you are distinguished enough to remember Tomb Raider's initial marketing run, you'll have mental images of Lara in a towel looking seductively into the camera. Rummery recalled Gard approaching Eidos with his ideas for showcasing Lara only to be told "'Go away, little man, We’re not interested.'" After this dismissal, Gard and Douglas allegedly refused to work on the Tomb Raider sequel and left Core Design a week after the announcement was made internally. "And [Gard] was so pissed off about [the marketing]," Rummery said. "He couldn’t let that go.”

However, after the trailer for Tomb Raider: Catalyst was dropped, Douglas apparently softened on the idea of remaking the original Tomb Raider, calling the upcoming gaming duo the "best of both worlds."

"There needs to be another 90%+ TR after all this time," Douglas writes in a subsequent post. "I'm quite looking forward to seeing both new games now. Visually they are stunning, something we only dreamed of 30 years ago. We will have to wait and see if the gameplay and resulting feelings of exploration and adventure are as good."

There needs to be another 90%+ TR after all this time... I'm quite looking forward to seeing both new games now. Visually they are stunning, something we only dreamed of 30 years ago. We will have to wait and see if the gameplay and resulting feelings of exploration and adventure are as good.

— @cnhyv.bsky.social (@cnhyv.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2025-12-15T12:37:18.360Z

The original Tomb Raider is the only game in the series with an aggregated review score of over 90 on Metacritic, landing at 91. However, later games in the series have also been well received, including the direct sequel, and the games in the Survivor reboot trilogy, with the second entry Rise of the Tomb Raider being the most well received with a Metacritic rating of 88.

Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis is scheduled to launch next year, with Tomb Raider: Catalyst expected to be released in 2027.

Tomb Raider 4-6 Remastered trapped me in a cave for over an hour, but at least it taught me a valuable lesson in following instructions