At the beginning of the month, we got our first look at the next Lara Croft adventure. Titled "Tomb Raider," the game is planning to reboot the franchise, telling the origins of Lara as she discovers her fondness for tombs, switches and shooting jungle cats in the face. It seems that for her new "first" adventure, however, Lara won't be alone. Crystal Dynamics, the game's developer, has posted job listings, seeking producers and designers for multiplayer.
The job listings were originally posted on Gamasutra's jobs section, subsequently spotted by NeoGaffers. For the producer listing, Crystal Dynamics is asking for the following:
"Crystal Dynamics is looking for a talented, enthusiastic, and highly organized individual with demonstrable project management experience to take on a major production role in the multi-player part of an upcoming action adventure title. For this role, we are looking for an individual with outstanding communication skills and a proven track record in production, having successfully produced or managed a team designing multi-player parts of an AAA title."
Despite being such a long-running franchise, the Tomb Raider games were strictly solo experiences until this year, when "Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light" was released for XBLA and PSN with co-op at the center of it.
It's currently unknown whether the multiplayer in the "Tomb Raider" reboot will be as intrinsically tied to the game as it was in "The Guardian of Light." Seems somewhat unlikely to expect that the game will allow for co-op throughout the course of its entire adventure, but even more unlikely is the alternative: ridiculous Tomb Raider-themed deathmatch and capture-the-flag modes.
Whatever the case, it seems clear that Square Enix really wants the next Tomb Raider game to be a big deal. After their success with the downloadable space, we know Crystal Dynamics has it in them. Now it's just a matter of meeting those expectations on a grander scale.