Yes, Rise of the Tomb Raider is Still an Xbox Timed Exclusive

Top Xbox boss Phil Spencer has spoken out to clear up confusion regarding the exclusivity status of upcoming adventure game Rise of the Tomb Raider. On Facebook, Xbox Australia updated a post from January 2015 to say that Rise of the Tomb Raider is no longer a timed exclusive, but a full exclusive.

"Not timed exclusive but exclusive," the message reads.

But that doesn't seem to be exactly accurate. Asked on Twitter about this very message, Spencer said nothing has changed since he revealed last summer that Rise of the Tomb Raider was only a timed exclusive for Xbox.

"There has been no change to our deal on Tomb Raider," he said. "Same as before when I answered. Timed." In another tweet, he said, "We are working with Crystal Dynamics on Tomb Raider to make it great on Xbox this Holiday; that's our goal and 100 percent of our focus."

Rise of the Tomb Raider was announced as an "Xbox exclusive" for holiday 2015 during Gamescom last summer. Spencer later clarified, however, that the exclusivity deal with Square Enix was for a certain period of time, not permanently. That leaves open the possibility that Rise of the Tomb Raider could come to PlayStation 4 or PC sometime down the road, though this has not been confirmed.

Microsoft will be heavily involved in the forthcoming release of Rise of the Tomb Raider this year for Xbox One and Xbox 360, as the company will publish Rise of the Tomb Raider and handle marketing and distribution. No release date for the game has been announced, but we expect Microsoft to talk more about the title during its E3 2015 briefing next month.

Rise of the Tomb Raider is a direct sequel to 2013's Tomb Raider reboot. That game has now sold more than 8.5 million copies, making it the best-selling Tomb Raider game of all time.

What's your take on Rise of the Tomb Raider's Xbox exclusivity? Let us know in the comments below.