Tomb Raider studio hit with fourth round of layoffs in 12 months, but remake and Catalyst development continues

Crystal Dynamics has announced another wave of layoffs. This is the fourth round of layoffs in 12 months for the Tomb Raider studio.

The company shared the news last night, stating the move will impact “20 talented team members”. These include staff from both development and central operations roles.

“This is a difficult day for our studio, and we never make these decisions lightly, particularly after the restructuring we underwent last year,” Crystal Dynamics wrote on LinkedIn. “As our current projects move into new phases of development, we continuously take a hard look at our team structures to ensure they align with our long-term studio goals. While we always strive to transition our people into new roles whenever possible, we have unfortunately reached a point where these departures are necessary.”

Crystal Dynamics acknowledged that many may be concerned about what these recent changes at the studio mean for future Tomb Raider games

. However, it has assured that it remains “fully committed” to the series’ already announced games, the all-new Tomb Raider: Catalyst and its remake of the original Tomb Raider known as Legacy of Atlantis. “Today, however, our priority is supporting our colleagues who are moving on,” the studio closed.

This week’s layoffs follow earlier layoffs at the studio in November, August and March of last year.

Tomb Raider Catalyst is due to release next year, across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Steam. It will take Lara to Northern India, following a “mythical cataclysm that has unleashed ancient secrets and awakened the mysterious forces that guard them”.

Before that, though, we have Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, which places players back in the shoes of Lara Croft as she hops from country to country in search of the Scion of Atlantis.