We raised the flag yesterday for someone in the know to give us a little more insight into the situation regarding the "cancellation", developer switch, and follow-up announcement of Tomb Raider 10th Anniversary Edition. Fortunately, one generous anonymous tipster obliged us. Here's what they had to say:

The video was done by Core for E3. It was shown at E3 and got people excited. The game was about 50% complete. The video was straight from a PSP engine built by Core - not a PC render or anything. The game could have been completed for Christmas.

Eidos then told Core they didn't want the project, and to cease work on it immediately.

Also...

This week it was revealed that Eidos have sold off Core Designs [to Rebellion] and that Crystal Dynamics have been working on a game of the same name for the past 6 months using their own Tomb Raider: Legend engine. It is believed this announcement was forced out due to the large amount of negative press and forum posts about Eidos after fans discovered they had cancelled the Core Designs project. Eidos is still using the Core video to publicize that Crystal Dynamics are working on a similar game. Core did not know about the Crystal Dynamics project until this week, the same as everyone else.

Compare the Core Tomb Raider 10th Anniversary Edition video to the Tomb Raider: Legend PSP videos and decide which one looks better, runs smoother, and stays truer to the original Tomb Raider franchise.

Interesting. Sounds like Eidos didn't have much faith in Core's vision of the game, for right or wrong, and that the team will most likely never have their hands on Lara again.

Our tipster also mentioned more mini-drama may be coming soon, so stay tuned for updates. Michael McWhertor

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