One of the original creators of the famous Tomb Raider game series has shared a fascinating story from the past. He revealed that a Japanese publisher once asked the team to completely change Lara Croft’s appearance. The publisher wanted Lara to look more like an anime character to make her more popular with players in Japan.
Paul Douglas, who helped create Tomb Raider many years ago, explained this situation. He said that the publisher, Victor Interactive, specifically requested a redesign to appeal more to the Japanese audience. According to Douglas, the publisher wanted Lara to have much larger eyes and a different head shape, which are common features in anime art style.
The request came quite late in the development process of the original Tomb Raider game. The Japanese publisher even sent a fax with specific design suggestions showing how they wanted Lara to look. However, another key developer named Toby Gard, who also worked on creating Tomb Raider, strongly opposed changing Lara’s appearance. He did not want to alter her original design at all.
To find a middle ground and keep both sides satisfied, the team came up with a compromise. Instead of changing Lara Croft’s actual in-game model, they decided to add some manga-style illustrations to the game’s manual and guidebook. Douglas mentioned that he is not sure exactly which artist created these special drawings.
Back in 2021, Douglas shared some images of these manga-style characters on social media. He also provided some background information about what happened during that time. Douglas believed that the publisher Victor Interactive probably thought changing all the game models would only take a few days of work. However, this was during the early days of 3D gaming technology, so making such changes would have actually required a huge amount of time and effort.
The request from the publisher started very big. They first asked to change all the in-game models and the cutscene characters. Then they reduced their request to just the in-game models. Finally, they only asked to change Lara Croft’s head specifically, but even this small change was not accepted by the original creators.
These manga-style illustrations were used in the game’s manual and guide to satisfy the publisher’s request without altering the actual game. The images showed characters like Lara Croft and the villain Natla with her henchmen, all drawn in a style that resembled Japanese manga or anime.
The original Tomb Raider game is currently being remade from the ground up. This new version is called “Legacy of Atlantis” and is scheduled to be released later this year. Players will be able to enjoy it on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Steam platforms.
Alongside this remake, Crystal Dynamics is also working on a completely new Tomb Raider game with Amazon. This upcoming game is titled “Catalyst” and will take Lara Croft on an adventure to Northern India. The development team has been working hard to create a fresh experience for fans of the series.
Recently, it was announced that actress Eva La Dare will be part of the cast for Tomb Raider: Catalyst. Many gamers know her as the voice of Sheva Alomar in the popular game Resident Evil 5. Her involvement has generated excitement among fans who are looking forward to the new game.
