Microsoft says Rise of the Tomb Raider Xbox deal "has a duration"
The Xbox exclusivity deal for Rise of the Tomb Raider is indeed timed, but Microsoft has declined to comment on the duration of the deal.
Speaking with Eurogamer at gamescom 2014, Xbox boss Phil Spencer said the exclusivity deal "has a duration", comparing the agreement with that of Dead Rising and Ryse on Xbox One. Both of those games have since been announced for PC.
While Spencer declined to state how long the Xbox One and Xbox 360 exclusivity period will last, once it ends, Crystal Dynamics can obviously release the game on any platform it wishes.
"When people want me to say, can you tell us when or if it's coming to other platforms, it's not my job," Spencer said. "My job is not to talk about games I don't own. I have a certain relationship on this version of Tomb Raider, which we announced, and I feel really good about our long term relationship with Crystal and Square.
"I get the reaction. If I'm a PlayStation person all of a sudden I feel like, the franchise has gone. I didn't buy the IP. I didn't buy the studio. It's not mine. Where this thing will go over time, just like Dead Rising or Ryse, we'll see what happens with the game. I don't own every iteration of Tomb Raider.
"What they do with the franchise in the long run is not mine. I don't control it. So all I can talk about is the deal I have. I don't know where else Tomb Raider goes."
Yesterday when the news was announced during Microsoft's gamescom presentation, an exclusivity period wasn't mentions. Instead, vague wording included in the announcement as well as the follow up response from Crystal Dynamics head Darrel Gallagher on the game's website failed to clear things up.
Still, despite the fact neither party stated the next Tomb Raider game would never land on other consoles, caused an uproar among fans.
Hopefully, the exclusivity period won't be a long one, and will only last through the shopping season.
Rise of the Tomb Raider will ship during holiday 2015 exclusively on Xbox consoles.