TOMB RAIDER LEGACY OF ATLANTIS CREATIVE DIRECTOR FEATURED IN HOGMENTED PODCAST
[ 23 September 2026 ]
Flying Wild Hog has released the fourth episode of its HOGmented podcast, featuring Michal Kuk, Creative Director on Tomb Raider Legacy of Atlantis. The episode covers Kuk's role on the project, including his work on defining its creative direction and the development team's approach to reinterpreting Lara Croft and the original Tomb Raider adventure.
Introducing his role, Michal Kuk says: "Creative Director is the guardian of the vision. The vision may come from outside, it might be done by the creative director, or many other sources. You need to make sure that every single department follows the vision, or work within the vision's contraints, and the vision is always kind of wide so there is a lot of space."
"Imagine a situation where narrative comes out with an idea for a really dark and deep section of the game, and the art comes out with super light and colourful art for this part of the section. That just doesn't add up. It doesnt' fit. So that's the moment I step in and even though I like both I need to make sure that all together it follows the same vision."
Discussing his first experience with Tomb Raider, Kuk recalls: "In the late 90's in Poland it was really difficult to just buy a new game in the shop. So a friend of mine leant me a copy of Tomb Raider on PC, and the very first memory I have is the combat with the bear. It was a huge dark and very scary cave, and a huge animal, and me playing on a keyboard just trying to survive this moment. The game was hard, it was scary, but it was real. It was very real for me."
Discussing the development of Tomb Raider Legacy of Atlantis, Kuk says: "Working on an existing IP and a brand new IP are two different cases, it's not even possible to compare. Tomb Raider didn't just start a series of games, it actually shaped the entire action adventure genre that we know today. I was very excited, and at the same time I felt a lot of responsibility here, because Tomb Raider fans are very passionate and very smart."
"The challenge wasn't just to create an adventure game. The real challenge was to keep the core DNA for the millions of people who already loved the game. And together with Crystal Dynamics, we found a really good partnership and way to collaborate to make sure that whatever we do for the game is approved by the fans, or is within the Tomb Raider lore or the franchise or within the universe."
On the franchise's history and its role in the development process, Kuk says: "There's 30 years of history for the franchise. That's quite a lot of knowledge and it also serves as a really strong foundation that we can build on top of. So it basically works as a compass. It helps us make sure that we are going in the right direction, because there's already an answer for most of the questions. We want to make sure that [the game] is a true Tomb Raider experience."
Discussing the portrayal of Lara Croft in Tomb Raider Legacy of Atlantis, Kuk says: "Together with Crystal Dynamics, we've figured out the way to merge the two worlds of Tomb Raider, the timelines. So basically, there's Lara that is very charismatic with a really sharp wit. This comes from the original games, the classic Tomb Raiders. But on the other side there is Lara as a human, full of emotions, known from the recent trilogy. We managed to combine those two worlds into one, which makes Lara the perfect one, the classic one that is fast, agile, at the top of her game, but still is full of emotions, and still being a human."
On the moment he realised he was making a Tomb Raider game, Kuk says: "It came quite early. It came during the blackout phase. So when the game still gray and all the levels are in prototype quality. I was playing a simple map, simple level. There were just shapes, but those shapes already looked like iconic places from the first Tomb Raider. That immediately felt like home. Even though these were simple shapes, they were already shaped in a way that I knew this view is going to look awesome. This particular ruin is going to look like this, and there's going to be a huge wall that Lara can climb. So generally, while I was playing those simple white boxes, that was the moment I thought we are making a Tomb Raider game."
On ensuring the development team understood Tomb Raider, Kuk says: "The entire team spent quite a lot of time making sure that everyone understands what it means to be working on Tomb Raider. What are the guidelines, what is the vision. What are the constraints and overall direction. A lot of people on our team are super fans of Tomb Raider. They've played every single game, watched every single movie. They've read every comic book or a regular book. That helped. We also treat those people as a source of truth."
Asked what he wants players to feel when they first play Tomb Raider Legacy of Atlantis, Kuk says: "When I was a kid and I played the game, years later I tried to remind myself how I felt. Thanks to connecting my imagination and memory, I have my perfect vision of the game, which is mostly combined or made of emotion. What would be the biggest compliment for me would be if the player finished the game and says 'I felt the same emotions while playing Legacy of Atlantis [that I felt] while playing Tomb Raider as a kid'."
On the role of nostalgia in Tomb Raider Legacy of Atlantis, Kuk says: "Nostalgia is not about old pixels, it's not about clunky controls. It's about the feeling that the game gave you. It is the feeling of being alone in a huge world, feeling the joy of discovering ruins, ancient temples, but also solving difficult puzzles. Our goal was to reimagine the game using modern game design and with the help of current technology, and we also want to make sure that we create new memories for the players, so they can also feel nostalgic in another 20 or 30 years."
Concluding the discussion, Kuk addresses Tomb Raider fans: "Here at Hogs, we are listening to you. We admire your passion, we are watching every single reaction video that we can find. We are watching all of your deep analysis of Tomb Raider and the trailers we already released. Together with Crystal Dynamics and Amazon Game Studios, I assure you that we are doing our best to make sure that we can deliver the game that you guys deserve."
Tomb Raider Legacy of Atlantis draws on the original Tomb Raider, developed by Core Design and released in 1996, and Tomb Raider Anniversary, developed by Crystal Dynamics. The game follows Lara Croft as she travels through Peru, Greece, Egypt and a Mediterranean island in search of fragments of the Scion, an ancient artefact connected to Atlantis.
Flying Wild Hog is developing Tomb Raider Legacy of Atlantis in collaboration with Crystal Dynamics, with Amazon Game Studios publishing. The game is scheduled for release on 12 February 2027 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC.
Standard, Deluxe and Collector's Editions are planned. The Deluxe and Collector's Editions will include 48 hours of early access.
