ANNIVERSARY ANNOUNCED
FOR XBOX 360
Copyright 2007 Eidos plc Press Release
[ June 18th 2007 ]
Eidos
Interactive Ltd., part of SCi Entertainment
Group, one of the world's leading publishers and
developers of entertainment software, is pleased
to announce that the latest Lara
Croft adventure, Tomb
Raider: Anniversary, will be released on the
Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system
from Microsoft, initially in the form of downloadable
episodic content which will be available for purchase
to owners of Tomb Raider
Legend on Xbox 360.
This
is the first time ever that the serialization
of a full retail game will be available for purchase
through Xbox Live® Marketplace. The game will
be available in four episodes; Episodes 1 & 2
will be available in September, with the next
two episodes arriving shortly afterwards. A full
retail version is planned to be released for Xbox
360 later in the year.
"We have
created this version of Anniversary specifically
for digital distribution as episodic content.
This is part of our strategy to grow our presence
in online and digital distribution as we believe
there are huge growth opportunities arising from
this delivery format and we intend to capitalize
on the increasing demand for digitally downloaded
content," said Jane Cavanagh, Chief Executive,
Eidos. "Lara has always been at the forefront
of technology and this world first initiative
with Microsoft really highlights that fact. Ultimately
we also intend to make the title available at
retail so that it reaches the maximum possible
audience."
"We're
continuing to break new ground in getting incredible
gaming experiences in the hands of consumers,"
said George Peckham, General Manager of 3rd Party
Publishing, Xbox, Microsoft. "We're excited to
be able to deliver one of the most well-recognized
franchises in video game history with Lara Croft
Tomb Raider: Anniversary to our more than six
million Xbox Live members worldwide in the form
of episodic content."
The market
for digital download of core PC and console games
is expected to exceed $289 million by 2010, with
Games on Demand services topping $104 million
(ScreenDigest). Microsoft's Xbox Live online gaming
network can already boast over 2.3 billion hours
of online gaming (this is equal to 95 million
days or over 260,000 years) since its launch in
2004. Xbox 360 owners have activated more than
5 billion points (over $60 million) on marketplace
with over 135 million downloads since the launch
of Xbox 360 in 2005.
Inspired
by the first Tomb Raider
videogame, originally released in 1996, LARA CROFT
TOMB RAIDER: ANNIVERSARY is a totally new adventure
for Lara, faithfully preserving the elements which
made the original Tomb Raider such a classic (selling
over 7 million copies worldwide). The Tomb Raider
series is still one of the best selling videogame
franchises of all time with over 32 million copies
sold and two major feature films released, starring
Angelina Jolie.
Tomb
Raider: Anniversary has also launched on Windows
as part of Microsoft's Games for Windows initiative,
offering reliability, compatibility, and full
support for play under Windows Vista™.
Lara
Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary will be available
on Xbox 360 - episodically - from September. The
Games for Windows® and PlayStation 2 versions
have now been released worldwide, with both versions
currently at No.1 in the UK and Germany in their
respective charts, and No.1 in France on PC. A
PSP version is due soon and a Nintendo Wii version
is in development.
In order
to access Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary
downloadable episodic content for Xbox 360, players
will require a Lara Croft Tomb Raider Legend disc.
The episodes will cost 2400 Microsoft points for
all four episodes, and will be released in two
separate launches. Episodes 1 & 2 will be released
in September and episodes 3 & 4 will follow shortly
afterwards. The Croft Manor level will be free
to download with both sets of episodes. Additional
Tomb Raider Anniversary downloadable content will
also become available for purchase on Marketplace
to support the launch of Tomb Raider Episodic
such as picture packs and theme packs.
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