While Tomb Raider Catalyst is still expected for 2027, clues suggest that a major change is coming for this next episode.
During the last Game Awards ceremony, Tomb Raider fans were treated to some good news. On the one hand, we learned that a certain Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis was in preparation, and that it will be a reinterpretation of the first episode of the series released in 1996. But the other big announcement concerned a new, entirely new episode called Tomb Raider Catalystexpected for 2027. And according to certain informants, this next opus could bring something new never before seen in the history of the license.
It all started with a message posted on the X account of a certain V Scooper. It is precisely this account which, already in May 2024, claimed that the next episode of Tomb Raider would be entirely in open world and based in India. The location was actually confirmed when the first trailer was released. At present, however, nothing clearly indicates that Tomb Raider Catalyst would be based on an open world, but an image could well tell the story.
Could Tomb Raider Catalyst be open world?
“This capture alone suggests that Tomb Raider Catalyst is entirely open world”he writes on the social network, mentioning an image taken from the game’s announcement trailer. We see Lara clinging to a rock, facing a vast expanse of forests, mountains and hills. The post continues: “snowy mountains, jungles and deserts coexist. Everything is visible on the horizon, which can be read as a single map and not isolated regions”.
It must indeed be recognized that this screenshot uses visual codes that we generally associate with an open world. We certainly see the famous adventurer in the foreground, but it is above all the landscape that is highlighted, with several distinct environments. Historically, the Tomb Raider license divides its episodes into levels, or large compartmentalized areas. But no title has so far offered a real open world, which would therefore be a major novelty.
Nothing has been officially confirmed, but we know that the director of the Crystal Dynamics studio had already made an announcement which can be interpreted in this sense. In an interview given to GamesRadar+Scot Amos actually declared that Tomb Raider Catalyst will be « the biggest episode they have ever produced ». These rumors should therefore be taken with a grain of salt, but could quite suggest that this next part of the saga will offer one of the largest play areas in the series. Answer in 2027.
