It looks like Crystal Dynamics, the folks who bring us the Tomb Raider games (except for the upcoming Shadow of the Tomb Raider, which is being worked on by Eidos Montreal), is expanding greatly. They have opened up a brand new studio in Seattle (Crystal Northwest), in the Bellevue, Washington area.

The new studio is also being accompanied by new hires, including Vincent Napoli, who joins the studio as Lead Combat Designer at Crystal Dynamics. Other talent they’ve recruited comes from EA Visceral, 343 Industries, Naughty Dog, Disney, and Pixar- so they’ve got some really high grade folks working for them over there.

“We’re aggressively scaling up our teams and adding a new studio with spectacular talent to deliver the ultimate gaming experiences for our players,” said Scot Amos, Co-Head of Studio at Crystal Dynamics. “We have assembled a team of industry veterans and leaders in order to create gaming experiences that surpass the expectations of our passionate community.”

Presumably, a lot of this hiring is happening for the upcoming Avengers game from Square Enix, which Crystal Dynamics is supposed to be working on. In fact, in their statement, while not actually naming the game, Crystal Dynamics does confirm the expansion is because of its new, “most ambitious” project yet.

“Our new studio in Bellevue, and the new hires in Redwood Shores, represent our continued commitment to the most ambitious project we’ve ever created,” said Ron Rosenberg, Co-Head of Studio at Crystal Dynamics. Notably, he did go on to explicitly mention The Avengers. “We’ll keep building on the exciting growth Crystal Dynamics has experienced over the last several years, and are eager to deliver a world-class Avengers experience for fans around the world.”

Hopefully, all of this talent can come together and deliver something truly special with this new game, whatever it is and whenever it comes out.

Lara Croft’s signature look, prior to the reboot trilogy, had her prominently flaunting dual pistols. In the reboot and its sequel, however, she has been seen with a bow. With Shadow of the Tomb Raider expected to cap off the trilogy, many have wondered if this game will depict the transition of the new Lara to the old one, with her taking o the dual pistols at some point or the other in this game.

Well, that won’t be happening in this game, at the very least. Speaking to the Official Xbox Magazine, Tomb Raider director Dan Bisson has shot down the possibility of that happening within this trilogy.

“No. I don’t want that,” he said. “For us this is her defining moment. We’re not going to put her in shorts with double-pistols, wearing a bikini — that’s not what this is. […] It’s because the twin pistols have an iconic thing about them. For this trilogy – not saying anything about later on, I don’t know about the future titles – but for this trilogy, the bow is still her signature weapon.”

He does seem to suggest that that moment may come in later games, but that also means that for fans who were hoping for it in this one, this news comes as disappointing. Unless he is explicitly lying because he wants the element of surprise maintained in this game.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider launches on September 14 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

So, remember that big announcement that Square Enix was teasing yesterday? At the time, I thought it might be the release date for Final Fantasy 12: The Zodiac Age, the HD Ps4 remaster of the beloved PS2 entry in the long running series. However, the actual announcement, made today, turned out to be far, substantially better and more exciting than that.

Square Enix today announced that they will be teaming with Marvel to produce a series of video games- the first of these? The Avengers: Reassemble, which will be developed by Crystal Dynamics, the guys behind the Tomb Raider remakes. Nothing more is known about the game at the moment, but we do have a short teaser trailer for you to check out for yourself below.

This news is greatly exciting to me- a full fledged Avengers video game, with an actual AAA game budget? I can’t wait to see how it all turns out!

Big News: @SquareEnix and @Marvel announce a multi-game partnership leading with The Avengers project. #Reassemble pic.twitter.com/DS87Iuzk7G

— Square Enix (@SquareEnix) January 26, 2017

Crystal Dynamics may be known for working only on the Tomb Raider games these days, but not so long ago, they helmed the fan favorite Legacy of Kain action adventure games too- a series that has long been dormant, but has seen its fans clamor for its return for at least as long.

Speaking to Australian website Finder, Michael Brinker, who is senior designer on Rise of the Tomb Raider, said that a new installment in the franchise not as out of the question as its long hiatus would have you believe.

“It’s a 50/50 chance,” he said. “We have in-house developers who really want to make that game. It’s interesting because people look back at our history and our franchises and see that we have some really iconic IPs. So gamers wonder ‘Where are they and what are they doing?’ Well, we’re always tossing around and talking about ideas. It really is 50/50.”

The Legacy of Kain does have a very vocal fanbase, and the games had a unique flavor all of their own- I think I speak for many when I say that a new entry would be greatly appreciated.

Hitman, which was originally supposed to be launching this December, but was subsequently delayed for a release some time early next year, now has a proper release date locked down again- IO Interactive’s reboot of their classic franchise is going to hit PS4, Xbox One, and PC on March 11.

That said, if you were expecting (hoping?) that the game would benefit from the delay and launch in a ‘complete’ state (originally, the game was going to launch in an ‘Early Access’ state, sort of like Splatoon did earlier this year), well, you were wrong. At release, it will include three locations and six campaign missions in Paris, Marrakesh and Sapienza with approximately 800 targets to off in Contract mode.

With that said, new Contracts and community events will be released every week, and a new Sandbox location will be added to the game every month starting April and through to June, including new Contracts, missions, disguises, weapons, and more.

IO Interactive also released a nice new infographic that shows us just how we can go about purchasing Hitman. You can check it out below:

While it was earlier stated that the upcoming Rise of the Tomb Raider would not have any kind of multiplayer functionality, instead focusing on Lara’s second adventure, it appears that was not entirely true- Microsoft confirmed to VideoGamer.com that Rise of the Tomb Raider will have some form of multiplayer functionality, though they neglected to elaborate any further.

“Crystal Dynamics are hard at work on Rise of the Tomb Raider and excited to deliver an amazing experience on Nov. 10 (US, 13, Nov. UK),” Microsoft said. “In the coming weeks and months, stay tuned for more info on all things Rise of the Tomb Raider – including how players will be able to extend their single-player campaign and compete with their friends.”

This could very well be referring to, for instance, leaderboards that pit players against each other- which would be passive and asynchronous multiplayer functionality that would still be in line with the earlier statement.

Guess we will just have to wait for an update from Microsoft for now.

Rise of the Tomb Raider launches on Xbox 360 and Xbox one this November.

Really, at this point you have to wonder what the point of having E3 at all is. We’ve already had so many official game reveals and unintended leaks in the lead up to the event, that there’s nothing left. To add to the madness, here’s another high profile leak- leading retailer Amazon has made a gaffe that may have unintentionally leaked the release dates of two of the more anticipated games this year, and certainly the biggest upcoming ones on Xbox One- Rise of the Tomb Raider, and Forza Motorsport 6.

According to Amazon, Rise of the Tomb Raider is listed for November 13, while September 18 is when we can expect Forza Motorsport 6 to launch. With Halo 5: Guardians already having an October release date, the two line up nicely, and can potentially provide Microsoft with an incredible lineup of games to fall back on this holiday season.

Amazon has since gone ahead and changed the dates to placeholder ones, but that just reflects the veracity of the earlier leaks, more than anything. I guess we will know for sure in less than a week at Microsoft’s E3.

Meanwhile, I am left wondering just exactly what is left to announce and reveal at E3 this year at this point.

When Rise of the Tomb Raider was announced as an Xbox timed exclusive at Gamescom last year, there was something that a lot of people forgot in the controversy that followed- the game was also coming to the Xbox 360 in addition to the Xbox One. Personally, while I understood the financial reasons for such a move, it did disappoint me, as it seemed clear that the game would be held back by the limitations imposed by the Xbox 360’s now ancient hardware.

However, something might have changed- in their newest financial report and forecast for their investors, released today, while Square Enix list Rise of the Tomb Raider as a title coming later this year, they only list it for the Xbox One. There is no mention of an Xbox 360 version, as spotted by Salromano at NeoGAF.

This could be most interesting- has Square decided that, given the dismal state of the last generation software market, it is no longer worth it to devote resources to developing a version for the Xbox 360? Or is it possible that Square isn’t even developing or publishing the Xbox 360 version, with porting and distribution duties falling instead to Microsoft?

We don’t know yet, but we should, soon- E3 is coming up in a couple of weeks, and between Microsoft and Square Enix both having their press conferences, we should have some clarity on this game and its ultimate status soon enough.

Remember Eidos? The guys who brought us Deus Ex, Tomb Raider, and Hitman? Of course you do, they’re still around, it’s just that they’ve been absorbed by Square Enix.

Well, if you’ve been having a hankering to play their games recently, you’re in luck, as you can 34 of them, plus all their DLC, on Steam for just $208… okay, yeah, that’s not ‘just’ (you could get a PlayStation Vita, a Nintendo 3DS, or a Wii U for less than that price), but on the plus side, buying all of this individually would cost you $424.14, so you’re actually saving a lot of money here. $216.14, to be specific.

The bundle includes the following games (bolded, DLC is unbolded):

1. Battlestations Pacific
2. Battlestations: Midway
3. Blood Omen 2: Legacy of Kain
4. Deus Ex: Game of the Year Edition
5. Deus Ex: Human Revolution – Director’s Cut
6. Deus Ex: Invisible War
7. Deus Ex: The Fall
8. Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
9. Hitman: Absolution: Agency HX UMP
10. Hitman: Absolution: Agency Jagd P22G
11. Hitman: Absolution: Agency SPS 12
12. Hitman: Absolution: Bartoli Custom Gun
13. Hitman: Absolution: Bronson M1928 Gun
14. Hitman: Absolution: Deus Ex (Adam Jensen) Disguise
15. Hitman: Absolution: Deus Ex (Adam Jensen) Handgun
16. Hitman: Absolution: High Roller Disguise
17. Hitman: Absolution: High Tech Disguise
18. Hitman: Absolution: Krugermeier 2-2 Gun
19. Hitman: Absolution: Public Enemy Disguise
20. Hitman: Absolution
21. Hitman: Blood Money
22. Hitman: Codename 47
23. Hitman: Contracts
24. Just Cause
25. Just Cause 2
26. Just Cause 2 – Black Market Boom Pack DLC
27. Just Cause 2: Agency Hovercraft
28. Just Cause 2: Black Market Aerial Pack DLC
29. Just Cause 2: Bull’s Eye Assault Rifle
30. Just Cause 2: Chevalier Classic
31. Just Cause 2: Monster Truck DLC
32. Just Cause 2: Rico’s Signature Gun DLC
33. Kane & Lynch 2: Alliance Weapon Pack
34. Kane & Lynch 2: Multiplayer Masks Pack
35. Kane & Lynch 2: The Doggie Bag
36. Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days
37. Kane and Lynch: Dead Men
38. Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
39. Lara Croft GoL: All the Trappings – Challenge Pack 1
40. Lara Croft GoL: Hazardous Reunion – Challenge Pack 3
41. Lara Croft GoL: Raziel and Kain Character Pack
42. Lara Croft GoL: Things that Go Boom – Challenge Pack 2
43. Legacy of Kain: Defiance
44. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
45. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2
46. Nosgoth (Closed Beta)
47. Nosgoth – Veteran Pack
48. Thief
49. THIEF DLC: Booster Pack – Ghost
50. THIEF DLC: Booster Pack – Opportunist
51. THIEF DLC: Booster Pack – Predator
52. THIEF DLC: The Forsaken – Challenge Map
53. Thief Gold
54. Thief II: The Metal Age
55. Thief: Deadly Shadows
56. THIEF: The Bank Heist
57. Tomb Raider
58. Tomb Raider I
59. Tomb Raider II
60. Tomb Raider III
61. Tomb Raider IV: The Last Revelation
62. Tomb Raider V: Chronicles
63. Tomb Raider VI: The Angel of Darkness
64. Tomb Raider: 1939 Multiplayer Map Pack
65. Tomb Raider: Agency SPS 12
66. Tomb Raider: Anniversary
67. Tomb Raider: Aviatrix Skin
68. Tomb Raider: Caves and Cliffs Multiplayer Map Pack
69. Tomb Raider: Demolition Skin
70. Tomb Raider: Fisherman
71. Tomb Raider: Guerilla Skin
72. Tomb Raider: Hunter Skin
73. Tomb Raider: HX AP-15
74. Tomb Raider: JAGD P22G
75. Tomb Raider: Legend
76. Tomb Raider: M590 12ga
77. Tomb Raider: Mountaineer Skin
78. Tomb Raider: Scavenger Bandit
79. Tomb Raider: Scavenger Executioner
80. Tomb Raider: Scavenger Scout
81. Tomb Raider: Shanty Town
82. Tomb Raider: Shipwrecked Multiplayer Map Pack
83. Tomb Raider: Silverballer
84. Tomb Raider: STG 58 Elite
85. Tomb Raider: Sure-Shot Skin
86. Tomb Raider: Tomb of the Lost Adventurer
87. Tomb Raider: Underworld

So… yeah, that’s a lot of stuff.

Movies based on video games are almost all universally bad but if, for some reason, you were anticipating the release of Hitman: Agent 47, which will be based on the original stealth video game series about assassinating targets, then there’s some news for you that you may not necessarily appreciate: the release of the movie, which was originally slated for February 2015, has now been pushed back. The good news is that it has been pushed back by only a few months, and the movie is still slated to release some time in Summer of 2015- specifically, August 28, 2015.

The movie will star Rupert Friend as Agent 47, the eponymous Hitman, which is an inspired casting choice; to those of you not in the know, Friend is well known for his performance in the hit Showtime TV drama series, Homeland.

Whether or not good casting choices point to a movie worth seeing remains to be seen. For now, I’d rather be hyped cautiously, if at all.