You may have noticed that Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light has a release date of August 18th for the Xbox 360, but what we just found out is that Microsoft has paid the developers of the game to hold it exclusively on the console for four weeks. This means that the PS3 and PC will not be seeing the newest iteration of the Tomb Raider Series at least until mid September.
The reason for this is that Microsoft apparently desires to have exclusive rights to the game for it to be successful for the Summer of Arcade event that is going to be happening in the upcoming weeks. Might be a good move on Microsoft’s part with how far they are pushing the Summer of Arcade promotion.
Kart Stewart, the brand manager for Lara Croft was quoted saying:
“The agreement with Microsoft is, in order to participate in their hugely successful Summer of Arcade promotion, there is a window of exclusivity. That window of exclusivity is a set four weeks. As with all arcade titles, irrespective of platform, you have to go through your submissions before they agree and approve a date. Unlike a disc-based title where we can pick our window, you have to go by what the first parties approve and give you a date, to make sure you’re not coming out on the same day as five other titles. They like to manage the release window accordingly. We have requested a specific date and hopefully we’ll get that and it’s not too long after the 360 SKU.”
