Remasters of old Tomb Raider games canceled due to licensing issues

Realtech VR is canceling the remasters of the original Tomb Raider 1, 2 and 3 games after being criticized by publisher Square Enix. The studio did not appear to have asked for permission to release the games.

At the behest of Square Enix, the videos showing the remasters have been taken offline, DSO Gaming writes. On Twitter admits Realtech VR refocusing on new projects in augmented reality on iOS and virtual reality on PC: “We don’t plan on taking any more third-party licenses.”

Crystal Dynamics, which took over the development of the Tomb Raider from Core Design and has been responsible for the game franchise since 2006, responds that Realtech VR had never asked for permission and that the rights holder has therefore not given approval.

Realtech VR announced the remasters of the original Tomb Raider trilogy last week. It was already clear that Realtech VR was trying to avoid licensing costs by not providing game data: players had to purchase the existing ports on Steam for game data as textures. The remasters ran at 1080p and 60fps thanks to a new engine.