ERIC LINDSTROM
DEFENDS DLC CONTENT
Copyright 2009 www.tombraiderchronicles.com
[ January 12th 2009 ]
The
former creative director of Tomb
Raider Underworld, Eric Lindstrom, has dismissed
claims made by ex-employees of Crystal Dynamics
that original content from Tomb Raider Underworld
was removed in order to provide material for DLC.
Eric, who was one of 30 staff let go by owners
Eidos on Friday, says he was one of three people
involved in the decision to edit the game in order
to maintain shipping schedule.
"I can
tell you without doubt that the content of DLC
was absolutely not held back from Underworld for
the purpose of selling later down the road. I
am one of only three people who knows this for
sure because not only were there only three of
us in the room at the time the decision was made,
I was the one who made it.
"We had
a production issue that was going to make us miss
our ship date - which we could not do - and I
needed to find a way to cut enough days from the
schedule in a manner that would not rip a hole
in the game that would take time to sew up.
"It
was my idea to cut what was cut, and I did hope
that it would one day be made available as a download
mission, because there was great content already
conceived and half completed, but on the day we
made the cut, it was made purely for Underworld
production reasons.
"Even
if I was told on that day that we would never
ever make a downloadable level, I still would
have had to cut it. Anyone who says otherwise
is speculating or heard someone else speculating,
and is incorrect."
The statement
was in response to original claims by an anonymous
poster on Tomb
Raider Forums that up to 40% of DLC had been
culled from Tomb Raider Underworld. Beneath The
Ashes and Lara's Shadow are exclusive 'downloadable
chapters' for Xbox 360 gamers due to be released
later this month.
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