Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is the upcoming sequel to Rise of the Tomb Raider, and third and allegedly last game in the Survivor Timeline.

It is scheduled for release on September 14th 2018.

Plot
Not much is known about the plot other than Lara will travel to Mexico and the plot will revolve around an eclipse. Square Enix has stated that "the game will be Lara Croft's defining moment as she becomes the Tomb Raider."

Characters

 * Lara Croft

Allies
To be added...

Enemies
To be added...

Gameplay
The game is expected to retain the traditional third person gameplay of previous entries in the series. Combat is likely to be refined and some fans have asked for improvements to the melee combat system. The game may feature more traditional puzzle and exploration for key items of the original games as well as the physics based puzzles of more modern games. It is also likely that hunting will return and be expanded upon as well as using resources gather to craft upgrades.

It is believed that game will feature hub areas much larger than those featured in Rise of the Tomb Raider, or be more densely packed with challenges and Tombs. Some fans believe the game may feature an open world, or return to the series roots of being set in multiple geographic locations around the globe.

Hints for Plot
The end of Rise of the Tomb Raider shows a map of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, implying that Lara's next search will involve Mayan culture, much like in Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light.

The first game in the survivor timeline ended with Lara reading a journal looking at a page with the word "Croatoan" written on top of the page. It's possible that Lara may be looking into the lost colony of Roanoke.

The map also shows an ID card belonging to Kennard Montez, an agent of Trinity, who Lara had several encounters with during the events of the novel Tomb Raider: The Ten Thousand Immortals, he is also believed to be the man who broke into Croft Manor, attempted to kill Lara and stole the book on Kitezh, during the beginning of Rise of the Tomb Raider.

Starting on March 19th, the official Tomb Raider website launched, Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Path of the Star, a puzzle game to promote the upcoming release of Shadow of the Tomb Raider. A new puzzle is to be added each Monday, until the full reveal on April 27th.

Development
Square Enix inadvertently confirmed the game to be in early stages of development as early as at least June 2015. during E3 of that year.

In August 2016, Ian Milham, who served as the Art Director for the Dead Space series and Creative Director of Battlefield Hardline, was hired at Crystal Dynamics to serve as the director for the next Tomb Raider game. However in September 2017, Milham departed from Crystal Dynamics to work in the studio Outpost Games.

It was announced that Rhianna Pratchett would be leaving the Tomb Raider series in January 2017, as such it is unknown if she contributed to the game.

In December 2017, it was officially announced that a new Tomb Raider game was in development, and news would be shared in 2018. it was also stated that there would be a short window between the official announcement and release of the game.

On March 14th, The Tomb Raider website was changed to show an abstract image of what looked to be a solar eclipse, with the time and date March 15th, 2018, 6:00 AM PDT, confirming the official reveal for that date. The trailer did indeed relased as scheduled, offering a release date of September 14th 2018, as well as an official full length reveal for April 27th.

Camilla Luddington confirmed that she would be returning to portray Lara Croft via her personal Twitter.

The game is being developed for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC launching on all platforms at the same time with no timed timed exclusivity to any platform.

Leaks
On October 31st 2016, a Reddit user caught a glimpse of a laptop screen on a subway in Montreal, with a banner image showing a logo for a project titled, "Shadow of the Tomb Raider." The leak indicated that Crystal Dynamics may not be the developer and that Eidos Montreal, developer of video game series' Deus Ex and Thief would be taking over. Eidos Montreal previously worked on the multiplayer for Tomb Raider. However, given that Ian Milham was hired as the new director for Tomb Raider at Crystal Dynamics it is unlikely that Crystal Dynamics won't be the primary developer.

In January 2017, It was announced that Crystal Dynamics were co-developing a game based on Marvel's Avengers series with Eidos Montreal. Crystal Dynamics' community manager Megan Marie, confirmed that Crystal Dynamics "are still very invested in the future of Tomb Raider" confirming their involvement with the development of future Tomb Raider games. In April 2017, Tomb Raider fansite Turning Point, had a Q&A session with Marie, who stated that there would be no Tomb Raider news at E3 2017, though also hinted that there might be news later in the year. However this may have been in reference to the next comic arc to bridge the gap between Rise and the next game.

In June 2017, another possible leak, showing possible logos, and concept art leaked. The concept art showed Lara with what appears to be an Aztec pyramid in the background, which falls in line with the possible setting of Mexico. Lara is also shown wielding a bow, knife and smoke grenades, as well as new weapons, such as a machete and a spear.

Square Enix's December 2017 update had a secret hidden within the text. Taking the first letter from the start of every sentence spells out the word "SHADOW" which implies that the original Reddit leak was legitimate.

The teaser trailer for the game leaked a day ahead of it's scheduled release of March 15th, showing a dense jungle setting and an Aztec pyramid. The trailer confirmed prior leaks such as the title and setting in Mexico.

Trivia

 * This is the second game in the Tomb Raider series to be predominantly set in Mexico.
 * This is also the second time Lara has visited Mexico in the Survivor Timeline.
 * It has been theorised that the unusually large number of leaks associated with this game were intentional as a form of guerrilla marketing.