Posted on Mon, 12 Jan 2009 09:49:00 PST -
Lara Croft was recently revamped, and another may be coming as soon as the next installment, according to a report from Times Online. Eidos chief financial officer Robert Brent said, "We need to look at everything, as we develop the next game. Look at how Batman changed successfully, from the rather sad character of the Michael Keaton era to the noir style of The Dark Knight." Though Lara's last revamp was only a few games ago, some critics felt it didn't go far enough to make Lara a realistic human character.
The Times speculates that the retooled Lara will be more appealing to females, both in the gameplay and character. Though Tomb Raider Underworld sold a respectable 1.5 million units in its first six weeks, the report notes that this was about 500,000 below expectations. Eidos attributes this mostly to poor sales in America. "Europe was fine, but America was not as anticipated," said Brent. "You would normally expect Tomb Raider sales to be split half and half between Europe and North America, but this time America was considerably below that."
The sales of Underworld could have led to recent layoffs within the company. The company also tried to delay negative reviews of the game, which received a generally warm reception. We'll have to see what steps Eidos takes to make Lara palatable to a wider audience, and if it similarly effects review scores and sales.
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