It just got super messy with two new games, so here’s the full Tomb Raider timeline explained

If you’re a Tomb Raider fan, you will know the pain of the drought we’ve all just endured. There has not been a new mainline game since Shadow of the Tomb Raider in 2018. We’ve not had a modern day, advancing the story of Lara Croft game since Underworld in 2008. The Tomb Raider timeline is complicated because we’ve gone through so many reboots and eras, but most of the games are still in a canonical order – now including the animated Netflix series. And the two recently announced Catalyst and Legacy of Atlantis, which replaces TR1 as the true first game in the Survivor timeline. Confused? I know. Me too – but here’s a full rundown of the updated Tomb Raider timeline with Catalyst and Legacy of Atlantis in the mix.

The Survivor trilogy from the 2010s are the beginning of Lara’s story

Despite the fact they’re the newest game and they’re not (I don’t think) set in the early 90s before the first ever Tomb Raider game – these are the first games in the timeline. They remain Lara’s canonical origin story and even with the new games they remain the start of the story.

The timeline then has Netflix’s animated Tomb Raider series

The Legend of Lara Croft has two seasons on Netflix and is Lara’s adventures before the main games but after her origin story. Characters like Jonah and Sam from the Survivor games all pop up.

Next year’s Legacy of Atlantis comes next

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Tomb Raider Legacy of Atlantis is a unified Lara story that brings the Survivor era Lara in line with the Lara Croft we met in the 1990s. It will canonically replace Tomb Raider one, technically. And Anniversary. It’s the first time we get to see Lara Croft in her modern day interpretation of the iconic outfit in the new Tomb Raider timeline.

The games then mostly go in order

After Legacy of Atlantis / Tomb Raider 1996 / Anniversary, we then get everything in order. Tomb Raider 2, Tomb Raider 3, The Last Revelation, Chronicles (even though it has flashbacks), Angel of Darkness, Legend and then Underworld. Underworld is currently the oldest iteration of Lara Croft we’ve seen.

There are murmurs that like Legacy of Atlantis, the other games here could be remade to make them feel more in line with the Lara we met in Survivor. IMAGINE Tomb Raider 2 and 3 with proper Unreal Engine 5 design… I need it.

Catalyst is the oldest Lara we’ve seen yet

Tomb Raider Catalyst will be the most recent and modern Lara Croft we’ve ever seen in the updated Tomb Raider timeline. She’s more mature and seasoned, and she looks BADASS. I can’t wait for this game because it’s been so long since we’ve had an entry like this. She looks outstanding.

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