--- description: Xbox boss Phil Spencer won't say how long the timed exclusive lasts, only that it's not "in perpetuity." title: Xbox One's Tomb Raider Deal Is a Timed Exclusive After All image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Microsoft's Xbox Tomb Raider Deal Is a Timed Exclusive After All by [Matt Peckham](/author/matt-peckham/) ## Matt Peckham Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 13, 2014 2:11 PM CUT by [Matt Peckham](/author/matt-peckham/) ## Matt Peckham Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 13, 2014 2:11 PM CUT I wondered why in the world a platform-agnostic studio like Crystal Dynamics would turn its beloved-once-more _Tomb Raider_ franchise over to a single platform after a string of successes across multiple ones. The [news out of Gamescom yesterday](http://time.com/3104132/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-xbox-one-only/ "undefined") was that the studio would bring _Rise of the Tomb Raider_, its sequel to 2013’s _Tomb Raider_, to the Xbox One exclusively. There was no mention in the presentation of it being a timed exclusive. Crystal Dynamics’ head of product development Darrell Gallagher said the game was “coming holiday 2015, exclusively to Xbox.” The devil’s in those two words, “holiday 2015,” it seems. According to Eurogamer, who [asked the obvious question](http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-08-13-microsoft-confirms-rise-of-the-tomb-raider-xbox-exclusivity-deal-has-a-duration "undefined") of Xbox honcho Phil Spencer at the show, Spencer — and let’s give him credit for being willing to say this much so soon — says the exclusivity deal isn’t forever. “When people want me to say, can you tell us when or if it’s coming to other platforms, it’s not my job,” Spencer told Eurogamer. “My job is not to talk about games I don’t own.” And he’s sympathetic to the competition. “I get the reaction I see,” he continues. “If I’m a PlayStation person all of a sudden I feel like, the franchise has gone.” But Spencer lays concerns he bought or somehow controls Crystal Dynamics to rest, confirming _Rise of the Tomb Raider_ isn’t Microsoft’s forever, and that he doesn’t “own \[the studio\] building Tomb Raider on other platforms.” When pressed, Spencer wouldn’t say how long the deal lasts (naturally), adding only that Microsoft has _Rise of the Tomb Raider_ on Xbox 360 and Xbox One for holiday 2015\. “What they do with the franchise in the long run is not mine,” he says. “I don’t control it. So all I can talk about is the deal I have. I don’t know where else Tomb Raider goes.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3107526/microsoft-xbox-tomb-raider-exclusive/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3107526/microsoft-xbox-tomb-raider-exclusive/"},"headline":"Microsoft's Xbox Tomb Raider Deal Is a Timed Exclusive After All","datePublished":"2014-08-13T14:11:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:02:57.375Z","description":"Xbox boss Phil Spencer won't say how long the timed exclusive lasts, only that it's not \"in perpetuity.\"","url":"https://time.com/3107526/microsoft-xbox-tomb-raider-exclusive/","keywords":["Tech","Video Games","xbox 360","xbox One","Microsoft"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Matt Peckham","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/matt-peckham/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3107526/microsoft-xbox-tomb-raider-exclusive/","name":"Microsoft's Xbox Tomb Raider Deal Is a Timed Exclusive After All"}}]}] ```