July 30^th, 2003 (12:00am) - The development house that created the world famous Tomb Raider franchise has been stripped of its biggest property and of its ties with publisher Eidos Interactive. With the announcement of the resignation of Core MD Jeremy Heath-Smith, Eidos has gone and taken away Core’s Tomb Raider franchise and given it to the current Legacy of Kain team at Crystal Dynamics, who plans on having a Tomb Raider title released by the end of the next financial year.

Rumblings from as early as last year rumored that Eidos planned on stripping Core of the Tomb Raider franchise if Angel of Darkness would fail to meet expectations, which it oddly has not. In actuality, thanks to Core’s Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, Eidos will now meet its original operating profit forecasts for the year to 30th June 2003. However, you cannot deny the talent of Crystal Dynamics. Their next installment in the Legacy of Kain franchise may possibly be their best yet, and with amazing games found in that series, you better believe that’s a pretty big statement. So, this decision may have been move for the franchise and Eidos itself.