A few days ago, a podcast by the name of Sacred Symbols read out what they claimed to be an official script being used for auditions for voiced roles in a Tomb Raider game that’s reportedly in development at Crystal Dynamics.
The general concept of the game’s story was read out as well. There were a lot of particular details and unique terms that lent credence to it being real, but like many leaks, there wasn’t any hard evidence to really confirm it; Square Enix has seemingly done so themselves. The hosts of Sacred Symbols confirmed recently that they had to adjust their podcast’s audio on their Patreon feed, as the platform received a DMCA notice for the script.
Crystal Dynamics has led the Tomb Raider franchise since 2006, the studio’s best-known title is likely the 2013 reboot of the franchise. This title put a more mature realistic spin on the series, featuring an inexperienced Lara Croft attempting to survive on a treacherous island. The title received two sequels, which were well-received, however, Crystal Dynamics then moved on to make 2019’s Marvel’s Avengers. That game reportedly resulted in a financial blunder, it would appear that the studio is moving back to its bread and butter franchise as a result.
Colin Moriarty, one of the podcast’s hosts, explained how Patreon received a DMCA notice on July 29, but he wasn’t made aware of it until August 1 on Monday. He explained how he complied, and edited out the offending audio on Patreon, then went on to specify that even though the podcast goes up on multiple platforms, Patreon was the only one that sent them a DMCA notice. In fact, the video form of the podcast is still viewable on YouTube right now, with the Tomb Raider script portion on it.
DMCA is short for the Digital Copyright Millennium Act and, essentially, it protects companies from the redistribution of copyrighted works. By employing a notice of this act, Square Enix, which owns Crystal Dynamics, for now, may have confirmed this script as legitimate. It’s worth noting that if this is for auditions, this script is likely not final and does not represent the final product. Furthermore, the game is probably not close to being finished, since they are still looking for voice actors for major roles. As claimed in the podcast, the script had been going around recently for that purpose.
What is likely true is the game’s story synopsis. The script states the game will feature a more seasoned Lara Croft, who has gained grit and experience from her adventures in the prior trilogy. She is a famous tomb raider, renowned worldwide for her exploits, and has to reluctantly lead a group of younger adventurers after getting very used to working alone.
Crystal Dynamics, as well as the Tomb Raider IP, are in the process of being purchased by Embracer Group. However, the deal is subject to regulatory scrutiny and has yet to finalize, which is why it is still Square Enix still has the responsibility for filing this claim. Since the podcast was only DMCA’d on Patreon, this the day it came out, the claim may have been a preemptive decision; part of a strategy the company later decided not to follow.
