Tomb Raider: Underworld creative director speaks out on his layoff, DLC rumors
by Randy Nelson 
{ Jan 12th 2009 at 9:05PM }
Now-former creative director of the Tomb Raider franchise at Crystal Dynamics, Eric Lindstrom, has broken his silence about recent layoffs at the developer -- including his own -- and rumors that the upcoming Xbox 360 exclusive DLC for the game was "held back" from the final release for profit's sake.
Posting on the site Tomb Raider Forums, Lindstrom says that he was let go as the result of there being "too many captains for the number of ships" at the studio, suggesting that the new, leaner Crystal Dynamics won't be working on multiple concurrent projects. Linden likened the layoffs to "musical chairs," saying that, "when the music stopped all the seats were taken."
Lindstrom also used his new "free agent" status to dispel rumors about the 360's two additional, downloadable missions, which are coming soon to XBLM. "We had a production issue that was going to make us miss our ship date," he wrote, revealing that, "It was my idea to cut what was cut, and I did hope that it would one day be made available as a download mission ... but on the day we made the cut, it was made purely for Underworld production reasons."
Posting on the site Tomb Raider Forums, Lindstrom says that he was let go as the result of there being "too many captains for the number of ships" at the studio, suggesting that the new, leaner Crystal Dynamics won't be working on multiple concurrent projects. Linden likened the layoffs to "musical chairs," saying that, "when the music stopped all the seats were taken."
Lindstrom also used his new "free agent" status to dispel rumors about the 360's two additional, downloadable missions, which are coming soon to XBLM. "We had a production issue that was going to make us miss our ship date," he wrote, revealing that, "It was my idea to cut what was cut, and I did hope that it would one day be made available as a download mission ... but on the day we made the cut, it was made purely for Underworld production reasons."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5th hot meal @ Jan 12th 2009 9:15PM
Chin up buster!
before you know it we'll be having tea and hot crumpets on the village green and look back at this with a smile.
tmmoore_nc @ Jan 12th 2009 9:37PM
Sounds to me like they should've pushed the release date back. But instead they went the route of almost every other game, leaving it sort of buggy.
Levi @ Jan 12th 2009 9:38PM
I'd DL those C's
Miguel @ Jan 12th 2009 9:40PM
So basically they rushed production, put out a flawed, short product, and intended to sell what they cut out later, effectively selling the game for $80. Screw Eidos, no way will they get my money.
It's sad, the original Tomb Raiders were great in their day and the franchise could have continued to be a strong brand, but seems to me that Eidos has completely flushed the Tomb Raider IP down the toilet.
chuckelZ @ Jan 12th 2009 10:27PM
from what I hear the game lived up to the 2 previous Tomb Raiders, which were considered to have "saved" the series. Consumers are just looking for something more, I just rented Bourne Conspiracy, another very solid game which I would never buy... I need something more than single player 6-13 hour action to justify the purchase price.
futurebiblehero @ Jan 13th 2009 1:56AM
Underworld was every bit on par with any "good" Tomb Raider. If it weren't rushed as badly as it was, it's very likely it could have been considered the best game in the series (which is why their decision to take things back to the drawing board is so disheartening). EGM didn't rate it highly for nothing.
It's a good game. It's just a wee bit buggy and not much of a "value" for $60, as you can see pretty much everything the game has to offer during a rental. Compact that with the fact that some genius at Eidos decided it was a good idea to rush it in order to compete with AAA juggernauts during a recession Christmas, and you have a pretty good explanation for the underwhelming sales.
gamedealdaily.com @ Jan 12th 2009 10:36PM
I will continue to not understand why Underworld is considered a failure...
cxm @ Jan 12th 2009 11:18PM
Wow, you really just see what you want to see, don't you?
He said that they made the decision to cut parts of the game due to quality/time constraints...something that every game does. Then, the opportunity to use the assets in DLC presented itself AFTER THE FACT and they ran with it. After all, why waste what's already there?
chris @ Jan 12th 2009 11:28PM
The games sales more on the ps3 and the DLC is for the 360, Microsoft is screwing up the video game industry. Do us all a favor and back sega the next time you want a system ms at lest it'll work.
Jacksons @ Jan 12th 2009 11:55PM
"...but on the day we made the cut, it was made purely for Underworld production reasons."
and the day after it was sold to Microsoft?
Sorry, this whole thing is disappointing. That, and exclusive DLC is the dumbest idea since the Electric Toaster Bath Buddy.
EndlessShadow @ Jan 13th 2009 2:27AM
Its sad that DLC is now being cut out of games so they can make more money. Just make some new stuff. Try ideas that didn't really fit with the game but sound like cool ideas. The worse that happens is not a lot of people buy it but you already made the money on the original purchase. Few companies have been getting DLC right but a lot have been getting it wrong.
cxm @ Jan 14th 2009 12:39AM
What is it about reading comprehension that is so hard for you guys. Like Vcize said, stuff gets cut from games all the time. It's not a new phenomenon. The content would have been cut regardless of whether there was DLC or not...it's just how production works.
The fact that the DLC option became available AFTER the cut was made (RTFA) simply means they can give content that they felt would have bogged down the main game a second chance. Not only do we get to see content that we never would have seen otherwise, but the developers were able to spend more time with it, allowing it to be better than what we would have gotten had they chosen to keep it in the main game despite all reason.
If you don't want to play it, then don't buy it. Don't try to perpetuate drama and don't keep bitching. Some people appreciate the chance to see stuff that would have simply been lost in the previous console generations.
Christian @ Jan 13th 2009 6:24AM
So he basically confirmed that the DLC content was cut of the final release for profits sake.... calling it 'production reasons' doesn't really change the goal of the move which was to get the game out in time for Christmas even though it would leave the game feeling rather cut short, and then to add to the insult sell the missing ending as platform exclusive DLC.
cxm @ Jan 14th 2009 12:56AM
How, exactly, do you know that the content that was cut was from the end? And have you ever worked in the entertainment production industry? Stuff gets cut all the time for legitimate reasons.
Maybe it just didn't fit in with the overall theme they were working for and had to be cut to retain the integrity of the product...cut for"production reasons".
Maybe the quality wasn't up to snuff and the amount of time and money needed to make it work within their production schedule would require more effort than the end result justified...cut for "production reasons".
Maybe the content just wasn't fun, and they needed to start over from scratch which you can't do in the middle of production...cut for "production reasons".
Think about it a little before you jump on every little tidbit and try to generate drama by blowing it out of proportion.
Snowblind @ Jan 13th 2009 6:53AM
I think you guys are missing the fact that Underworld is a complete game, it is pretty short, but no shorter than the new Prince of Persia, or even Uncharted. It definitely has a complete story and ends in a decent way, it's not like there's a massive cliff hanger or parts of the game missing.
The new content is completely seperate from the main story (you don't even play as Lara) and is made up of almost totally new assests.
JoeTheBlow @ Jan 13th 2009 9:46AM
Anyone who actually buys this $20 "final level" pack deserves to have their gaming licence revoked and their xbox shoved up their ass.
Vcize @ Jan 13th 2009 10:40AM
God people suck at DLC. They just use it as a vehicle to get their bitchiness out.
Look, many games cuts crap out to meet a release date. Usually, that stuff that gets cut disappears forever, and no one ever gets to play it. Now, DLC gives big fans of the game a chance to play it.
If DLC didn't exist, the same stuff still would have been cut out, and the game still would have cost the same $60 to buy, and that would have been the end of it. But now that DLC exists, people who loved the game have a chance to play the stuff that was cut, and the developers have a reason to finish the stuff that was cut post-mordem.
If you don't buy the DLC, or just pretend it doesn't exist, then it's no different than it would have been had the whole concept of DLC never been invented. You still get the same exact game you would have for the same $60 price tag. Now, you just have the OPTION to get more if you want it. If you don't, then don't, and you're no worse off than if it never existed in the first place.
LegendaryRedass @ Jan 13th 2009 1:04PM
Eidos is determined to kill the Tomb Raider for the sake of a few dollars. And it never works, they lose more money on account of their butthole stupidity than they would of made if they did an honest days work. I knew they shorted TR already. Everyone is usually about 12 levels. Underworld only had 9. So basically they are half- assing the game and only giving us two thirds of it at retail. In summation, screw you Eidos.