Tomb Raider: Catalyst Slips to 2028 as Amazon Delays Lara Again

Poor Lara. Every time it looks like she's finally about to make a proper comeback, somebody quietly moves the goalposts. Amazon's second Tomb Raider game, Catalyst, has just been pushed all the way back to 2028 - and the way the news landed says a lot.

Amazon's head of gaming Jeffrey Gattis dropped it almost in passing, during a chat with The Game Business' Chris Dring about the company's wider gaming plans and the relaunch of its Luna streaming service. The first project, a Tomb Raider 1 "reimagining" called Legacy of Atlantis, is now set for 12 February 2027. Catalyst, the second, "follows in 2028" - and that's after the TV side of things already hit its own snags.

Two Laras, and neither is close

Let's be honest about the pattern. Amazon bought into one of the most recognisable characters in gaming, promised a proper revival across TV and games, and so far the main thing it's delivered is delays. One reimagining pushed into next year, another adventure shoved into 2028, a TV project that keeps tripping over its own feet.

Now, I'm not going to pretend I want a rushed Tomb Raider. We've all seen what happens when a beloved series gets shoved out the door to hit a fiscal quarter. If the extra time makes Catalyst better, great. But when a release date gets tossed out this casually - mid-conversation, almost as a footnote - it tells you the project isn't exactly locked in.

For players here, the practical read is simple: don't hold your breath, and definitely don't preorder on faith. A game that's "some time in 2028" is a game that could still slide into 2029. Two years is an eternity in this business - long enough for teams to change, scope to shift and priorities to move somewhere else.

There's also the Luna angle. Amazon keeps leaning on cloud streaming as its way into gaming, and that's a harder sell in our part of the world - the cloud is only as good as your connection on a given evening, and at the end of it you own precisely nothing. I'll take a disc I can lend to a mate over a stream that vanishes the day the servers do.

Lara has survived collapsing tombs, gunfights and the odd dinosaur. The thing that keeps knocking her down now is a corporate roadmap. I'll believe this comeback when I've got a controller in my hand - not a second before.

Image: Pottero / Public domain, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tomb_Raider_II_international_logo.png