Tomb Raider: Underworld due in November

In November 2006, Eidos Interactive revealed that its Crystal Dynamics studio was working on a new Tomb Raider game. The Redwood City, California-based developer--itself once an independent publisher--was credited with revitalizing the classic franchise after the 2003 critical and commercial failure Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness. That new game, 2006's Tomb Raider: Legend, scored decent reviews and sales, sparking the 2007 release of Tomb Raider: Anniversary, a remake of the original using Legend's engine.

This past February, Eidos officially titled Tomb Raider: Underworld, the new installment in the series, but it gave no release date for the game. That changed this weekend, when financially strapped Eidos parent SCi Interactive launched a new Web portal for the game at the long-held URL Tombraider.com. The site's new splash page now clearly states that the game will ship for the PC, Nintendo DS, Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 2 in "November 2008."

Both the UK and US versions of Tombraider.com sport the same "November" release window, although traditionally Tomb Raider games have shipped in Europe slightly ahead of North America. The site isn't any more specific about the exact shipping date, although online retailers such as GameStop.com are listing the game as arriving in the US on November 18.