Xbox boss: Tomb Raider exclusivity a ‘win-win’, although details remain unclear

Phil Spencer has said that the deal to make Rise of the Tomb Raider an Xbox exclusive is really a win-win”.

The Crystal Dynamics title was unveiled as an Xbox exclusive at Microsoft’s Gamescom 2014 press briefing earlier today.

"We’ve found in certain instances that if we can partner with a [third-party] team when they want to do something special, then we can work with them on their game to help it reach that level that they want to see," the Xbox boss told CVG.

"This was really nice for us. If you look a Tomb Raider and what it is as a game, it fits extremely well for our line-up next year alongside Quantum Break and Halo 5. We haven’t announced everything that’s coming next, but if you think about the game that Tomb Raider is, it fits really well for us. So the partnership I think is really a win-win."

However, the precise details of the exclusivity remain uncertain. Crystal Dynamics earlier appeared to suggest that the game would be an Xbox One exclusive for life.

Spencer would commit to nothing beyond saying that Rise of the Tomb Raider will be exclusive in holiday 2015”. Nor would he budge from the exclusively on Xbox” wording, suggesting that an Xbox 360 could at least be conceivable.

"We’re saying what we said on stage," he added. "We had a lot of similar questions around Titanfall and the structure of our deal is a business relationship that’s frankly between us and Square Enix.

"In Holiday 2015, Rise of the Tomb Raider will be exclusive to Xbox. That’s the comment.”