Sarah remembers the exact moment she fell in love with video games. It was 1996, she was eight years old, and her older brother had just fired up the original Tomb Raider on their family’s PlayStation. The moment Lara Croft backflipped off that ledge in the Peruvian mountains, twin pistols blazing, Sarah knew she’d found her hero. Fast-forward to last week, and Sarah’s scrolling through gaming news during her lunch break when she sees the announcement: not one, but two new Tomb Raider games are coming.
Her excitement lasted exactly thirty seconds. Then she watched the trailers.
Something felt different. This wasn’t just a new adventure—this felt like a completely different character wearing Lara Croft’s face. The swagger was gone. The impossible athletic feats seemed more… realistic. Even the way the camera focused on her felt subdued, almost apologetic.
Two New Tomb Raider Games Are Changing Everything We Know About Lara
The gaming world is buzzing with the announcement of two major new Tomb Raider games arriving in the coming years. But these aren’t just sequels—they represent a fundamental shift in how one of gaming’s most iconic characters approaches her world.
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First up is “The Legend of Lara Croft,” a mobile-focused title directly connected to the popular Netflix animated series. Running on both mobile devices and PC, this game promises bite-sized adventures perfect for modern gaming habits. Meanwhile, Amazon Games is developing a massive console and PC experience built on Unreal Engine 5, promising to “unify the timelines” and bridge the gap between classic Lara and her modern incarnation.
“What we’re seeing is Lara Croft being reimagined for two completely different audiences,” explains gaming industry analyst Marcus Chen. “The mobile game caters to casual, on-the-go players, while the Amazon title aims to satisfy hardcore fans who want that deep, exploratory experience.”
But here’s where things get interesting: both games seem to be walking back from the exaggerated, almost superhuman Lara of the ’90s toward something more grounded and relatable.
What These New Tomb Raider Games Actually Offer
The details emerging about both titles paint a picture of a franchise trying to serve multiple masters simultaneously. Here’s what we know so far:
| Game | Platform | Developer | Key Features | Expected Release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Legend of Lara Croft | Mobile/PC | Simutronics Corp | Netflix series tie-in, bite-sized levels | 2024 |
| Untitled Tomb Raider | PC/Console | Amazon Games | Unreal Engine 5, timeline unification | TBA |
The mobile game focuses heavily on accessibility and quick gameplay sessions. Early footage shows Lara navigating familiar tomb environments, but with streamlined controls designed for touch screens. The action feels more like a premium endless runner than the methodical puzzle-solving that defined classic Tomb Raider games.
Key features of the mobile experience include:
- Short, 5-10 minute levels perfect for commuting
- Simplified control schemes optimized for touch
- Direct story connections to the Netflix animated series
- Focus on action sequences over complex puzzle-solving
The Amazon Games project takes a different approach entirely. While details remain scarce, the developers promise a return to sprawling tomb environments with complex navigation challenges. However, even this “traditional” approach shows signs of modern sensibilities.
“The character design philosophy has shifted dramatically,” notes game design consultant Elena Rodriguez. “We’re moving away from the pin-up aesthetic toward something that feels more like a real archaeologist who happens to be incredibly skilled.”
Why This Shift Matters for Gaming Culture
This transformation reflects broader changes in gaming culture and audience expectations. The original Lara Croft was designed during an era when video game characters were deliberately exaggerated cartoon versions of human archetypes. She was meant to be impossible—impossibly athletic, impossibly confident, impossibly cool.
Today’s gaming audiences, particularly younger players who discovered Lara through the more recent reboot trilogy, connect with characters who feel more psychologically realistic. They want heroes who struggle, who show vulnerability, who could theoretically exist in the real world.
The mobile game represents gaming’s move toward “snackable content”—experiences designed to fit into increasingly fragmented attention spans. Where classic Tomb Raider games demanded hours of uninterrupted focus to solve complex environmental puzzles, the new mobile title delivers immediate gratification in digestible chunks.
Meanwhile, the Amazon Games project seems designed to appease longtime fans who worry about the franchise losing its identity entirely. By promising “unified timelines,” they’re attempting to bridge the gap between nostalgic players and newcomers without alienating either group.
“It’s a really delicate balancing act,” admits veteran game designer Thomas Park. “You’re essentially trying to make the same character appeal to people who have completely different expectations about what entertainment should feel like.”
What Long-Time Fans Are Really Losing
For players who grew up with the original Tomb Raider games, these changes represent more than just design updates—they feel like a loss of fantasy. The original Lara Croft wasn’t just a character; she was an escape into a world where someone could single-handedly explore impossible places and emerge victorious against overwhelming odds.
The new Lara, while more relatable and realistic, seems to carry the weight of real-world concerns. Her movements are more grounded, her reactions more human, her adventures more plausible. In making her more accessible to modern audiences, something intangible but essential has been traded away.
This shift mirrors larger trends in entertainment where larger-than-life heroes are being replaced by more psychologically complex protagonists. While this often results in better storytelling, it can also mean losing some of the pure escapist joy that made these characters beloved in the first place.
Early reactions from the fan community show this tension clearly. Younger players express excitement about finally having a Lara Croft who feels “real,” while longtime fans worry about losing the character’s mythic qualities.
“She used to feel like she could do anything,” one fan commented on social media. “Now she feels like she’s really good at some things, which isn’t the same feeling at all.”
FAQs
When will the new Tomb Raider games be released?
The Legend of Lara Croft mobile game is expected in 2024, while Amazon’s console title doesn’t have an official release date yet.
Will these games connect to previous Tomb Raider stories?
Yes, Amazon Games specifically promises to “unify the timelines” and connect classic Lara with her modern reboot version. The mobile game ties directly into the Netflix animated series.
Are these games replacing the traditional Tomb Raider experience?
Not exactly. The Amazon Games title promises a traditional single-player narrative adventure, while the mobile game offers a more casual, accessible experience for different types of players.
Why does Lara Croft look and act differently in these new games?
The character design reflects modern gaming culture’s preference for more realistic, psychologically complex characters over the exaggerated archetypes of the 1990s.
Will longtime fans enjoy these new Tomb Raider games?
That remains to be seen. The games seem designed to appeal to both nostalgic fans and newcomers, but some longtime players may miss the larger-than-life fantasy elements of classic Lara Croft.
Can I play the mobile Tomb Raider game on PC?
Yes, The Legend of Lara Croft will be available on both mobile devices and PC, making it accessible to players who prefer different platforms.