Tomb Raider Devs Explain Series Timeline, Lara Croft’s New Voice, And Links Between Catalyst And Legacy Of Atlantis

Last week, the Game Awards surprised us with not one, but two Tomb Raider-related announcements: Catalyst, a new entry in the series, and Legacy of Atlantis, a remake of the original Tomb Raider. With a legacy as long as Lara Croft’s, however, it raises some questions. First, how do these games fit in a larger timeline?

GamesRadar+ got the scoop on that. “From a timeline perspective, Tomb Raider: Catalyst is set years after the events of Tomb Raider: Underworld,” game director Will Kerslake told the outlet. “With the reboot trilogy serving as her origin story, so we’re seeing a more experienced Lara Croft.”

This means the most recent trilogy of games – Tomb Raider (2013), Rise of the Tomb Raider, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider – occurs sometime before the original 1996 game. By extension, that means they all come before Legacy of Atlantis as well. This is consistent with an update the Tomb Raider team put out back in 2021, when Kerslake said, “We envision the future of Tomb Raider in all its forms as unfolding in a time beyond these established adventures, telling stories that build upon the breadth of both Core Design’s and Crystal Dynamics’ games and working to unify these timelines.”

This new duo of games is still serving as a soft reboot, however, which is partially evident by the recasting of the title character. Alix Wilton Regan replaces Camilla Luddington as the voice of Lara Croft in both Catalyst and Legacy of Atlantis, tying the games together as the new future of the Tomb Raider series. 

In a press Q&A session following the Game Awards, Crystal Dynamics head of studio Scot Amos spoke about the casting process for the new era. “[Alix Wilton Regan] was already a fan when we met her. And then being able to talk to her, and [we got] a sense that she has that wit and that charm and charisma that is a natural essence and core for Lara, but she also has that confidence and that depth of emotionality that we need for telling these great stories.”

Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis

Amos also broke down how the development process of Catalyst and Legacy of Atlantis is surprisingly intertwined. “We actually have two distinct development teams, so we’re working together,” Amos says. “But we have Flying Wild Hog running the Legacy of Atlantis, and we have the Crystal [Dynamics] team from the core working on Catalyst. But we’re connected. We actually share technology, we share resources, we share assets. We have one leadership team, visionary team, over top of that, that makes sure everything is on track, everything is within canon, everything makes sense in the various games and the storytelling.”

It also emphasizes the “unity” the teams are trying to achieve with Lara Croft going forward. “Same character; Two different time periods in her life,” Kerslake says during the Q&A.

For more Tomb Raider, check out the reveals of Catalyst and Legacy of Atlantis from last week’s Game Awards.