Rise of the Tomb Raider 'coming soon' to the Windows Store

Though it wasn't immediately clear whether Rise of the Tomb Raider would be coming to the Windows Store when it arrives on PC in January, that indeed appears to be the case. The official Windows Store Twitter account announced that Rise of the Tomb Raider will be "coming soon" to the Windows Store. And given that the game is due to arrive for Windows 10 PCs via Steam next month, we wouldn't expect its Windows Store arrival to be too far off.

The news also raises questions if Rise of the Tomb Raider is the first Project Centennial game e.g. a Win32 port to the Windows Store or something else. Project Centennial was announced back at Build as a way to bring classic Windows apps and games to the new Windows 10 Store (they can even be larger than 150GB in size). However, since the announcement, not much news has come out about the Bridge technology.

Rise of the Tomb Raider was originally released as an exclusive title for the Xbox One and Xbox 360 in November, but the exclusivity period is almost up, heralding the game's impending arrival to other platforms.

Similar to Steam, buying Rise of the Tomb Raider through the Windows Store will enable one-click installation or removal, along with automatic updates.

Source: Windows Store (Twitter)

Dan Thorp-Lancaster is the former Editor-in-Chief of Windows Central. He began working with Windows Central, Android Central, and iMore as a news writer in 2014 and is obsessed with tech of all sorts. You can follow Dan on Twitter @DthorpL and Instagram @heyitsdtl.

119 Comments

Awesome, that's a good move for MS. All they need now is all of their games and more from the 3rd part.
Microsoft should port all of their classic games to store. Chess, solitaire, minesweeper, etc for all who loves classic.
Solitaire and Minesweeper are both already there. I'd rather see all three Fable games come to the Windows Store :) And the Halo games.
At least the new Fable is comming to the Windows Store. :) As are some other upcoming Microsoft games from 2016.
Is that true?
It is true, at least according to my sources and things I've seen myself.
Its a 4 on 1 multiplayer game. No story what so ever.
If you were in Beta, you would be able to download it and play Fable Legends from time to time. it's closed a beta so I don't know how often they send invites. but they send emails with the dates the game is open to test. but yes, it's a Windwos 10 game, just like Gigantic. Rise of tomb raider is not but it's good it will be there, wish Steam was out of the equation but anyway, it would be nice if publishers could use store for their apps and games, even if they are win32 like Microsoft promised, that would make the store better.
Gigantic and Gears of War: UE for example.
Looks like an official tweet. It must be true!
That Rise of the Tomb Raider is coming to the Windows 10 Store was officially announced by Microsoft many months ago, so I am not sure why Windows Central seems surprised by this.
I know right lol
Just got the beta invite. Can't wait to try it out.
I got the beta invite last week on my Xbox One. It's nice.
Need pinball 3D on store
Freelancer HD in windows store please! Steam needs a good kick and Microsoft is more than capable of delivering one now.
Coming soon
Microsoft's trade mark name "Coming Soon ™" (refering to Windows 10 and Windows 10 mobile or Windows Phone period)
Referring to everything Microsoft
Never really understood why people give MS a hard time over comming soon. Literally everything that has ever been announced from every other company has a coming soon after it.
i think they need to make this a universal app so if you own/buy it on xbox then you can also download it on the windows store
Not down to Microsoft. They're just the publisher. Square Enix wants all your $$$. Plus Universal Apps aren't yet generally enabled on Xbox. Mike Ybarra just said they're coming soon.
1. Micrsoft isnt the publisher anymore. They only published it for xbox, now its square enix AND freaking spuare enix makes pretty decent games ( eg. Hitman absolution, life is strange , final fantasy )
MS may say otherwise, but they're definitely building a Steam competitor.
This has no advantage compared to the Steam version.. IMO.. It probably has disadvantages even. Get the steam version!
I'd personally like to see all the XBLIG from the Xbox 360, make the jump to the Windows Store. Throw in some Achievements support, and you've got yourself one helluva starting point for game store full of exclusive content on Windows. Then begun to roll out Xbox One games into the store, to seal the deal.
Yeah they have so much content already that they've withheld. They're really shooting themselves on the foot.
The content is there, they just need to port it. But who knows how long that takes.
Porting it is only part of the problem. I think the bigger problem is convincing publishers to place games on the Store, especially X360 games. If the publishers already are not playing nice with placing 360 games on XOne for Backwards Compatibility, then how much more for a PC Store?
They should. Releasing all the old games as a hd version to xbox one means they run on modern architecture, which means on win 10. That means every pc with windows 10 could easily play those x360 hd xbox one version
That also means additional cost for pubs to bring games up to spec, something they may not want to invest in.
Well... I thought you couldn`t sell x86 apps there. At least, previously, there would be only a link to the site or whatever. This game is going to use in some way the UWP? Forget my question, answer is right there now ^^"
You read the article right? The entire thing?
They are using their App-V tech to compartmentalize w32 applications (loosely).
Microsoft announced at Build that would become a thing. http://www.windowscentral.com/universal-windows-apps-can-now-be-larger-150-gb-store Gears of War: UE will also be in the Windows Store at some point.
Haha try saying this is available on Google Play or Apple Appstore! Take that!
Omg yes. I would so much rather buy this from the Windows Store than Steam (I hate Steam).
Frankly, after the flustercuck that was Steam on Christmas, I'm having a hard time trusting them with any future purchases. My CC info, how much money is in my wallet, my address, and phone number being widely available are not worth 20% off a game.
75%, 80% and sometimes even 90%, this is what makes you think. Also good advice would be: Never give to much personal info to any service and it doesn't matter if it's steam, xbox, psn, ebay or whatever, because **** happens and datas leaks :D
Still not worth it. Potential identity theft versus cheap games should be a no-brainer unless one's priorities are seriously messed up and the way it went down on Steam was just pitiful. All services require a certain amount of personal info.
Well I buy games with my paypal which has no credit card linked to it (I transfer money via cash machine in super market). So there's my post code, adress and number to worry about. I agree with you, things like this shouldn't happen... EVER! But somehow steam is still attractive to me :D
Just log out every time you're about to shut your pc. The clusterfluff that was happening was because steams cache got ducked up because of trying to overhaul it for Christmas day. Only the cache data was visible, meaning if you log out ever time it won't happen to your account because your cache data gets deleted. But having half a billion ppl on christmas online ***** up ****. That's normal. Its not steam its just the traffic and the servers melting.
Steam is awesome:)
ok, leaking that amount of data is not normal. no excuse you can give can make it ok to classify that as normal. that was a failure on their part. it didn't have to happen. no amount of traffic makes it ok for that type of data to leak. you can say logging out helps, but it doesn't. what if you are actually using the service at the time. then your data is still in the cache. so you're still vulnerable. your information should not be vulnerable simple because of traffic. period. no ifs ands or buts.
GoG. : ) Posted via the Windows Central App for Android
Yep, sure they dont have all the current big publisher hits(witcher 3 being the exception right now)but they do have indie selection
GoG is really nice and I love that the games are DRM free as well as the fact that you have access to all sorts of games from back in the day.
Well... This is a gamechanger
This is old news. Microsoft executives officially announced this many months ago.
I hope I can play this at resolutions higher than upscaled 720p with Vsync off.
I've noticed the garbage forced options in Windows Store games lately. If I wanted console quality visuals/input lag I'd just play it on a console.
I expect for this to not be an issue with future PC releases.
Umm, I'm kind of confused here. Will this game also be sold on steam and separate non-steam copies in windows store or it will be sold as steam hame available in windows store (yous get steam code) ? If it will be sepatate, will there be xbox achievements ? If so, somehow this would remind me old GFWL service :)
Steam and separate Windows Store editions. Presumably Windows Store version will overlap with Xbox Live cheevos.
Hopefully it has cloud sync for save games too (across PC's, I'm not expecting it between console and pc for a game like this). I like that Xbox One can sync all my saves to the cloud (mainly for backup in my case) but not all Steam games use steam cloud. Wonder if this will have an Xbox banner at the top of the cover art when it shoes in the store
Basically this is building on top of w8.x xbl
How would this play on the i5 Surface Pro 3?
Since Surfce only has integrated graphics card (intel), my guess is that it would run (on really low settings), but you wouldn't be satisfied with quality of gameplay (lag maybe) and it certainly wouldn't look good.
What directx version does the Surface Pro 3 support ? If your only at DX 8 in the video card area, you cant even play COD modern wartfare 1... I would bet this would require 11 or 12...most tablets cant do the video area for this. Get the Xbox one version, and stream it to your tablet ....and that should work on Most tablets..
Thanks, no Xbox at present time and I saw this video on YouTube: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=97eeKtAR7lA and thought it may work?
Probably not that well. But we also don't have the minimum requirements yet but you're going to need a dedicated GPU to have anything resembling a good time.
Well, it could run just like the 360 version of Rise of the Tomb Raider, that would be a REALLY nice thing to do with the game low and max graphical settings.
sadly the 360 version is made for powerPC
I saw this on YouTube and thought maybe.... http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=97eeKtAR7lA
as smooth as a .ppt
Awesome
What's 150 gb ?
Hard drive Memory.
I have to question why Ori and the Blind Forest isn't in there. They could really bulk out the store with some quality games, but don't seem to bother doing so...
Yep, I'd buy Ori and the Blind Forest immediately if/when it becomes available in the Windows Store with cross-buy, cross-saves, and achievement support with Xbox One.. The same thing goes for a number good indie titles, just waiting for Microsoft to make these moves
The definitive edition of Ori is coming to the Store next year.
Source? Posted via the Windows Central App
Source? Posted via the Windows Central App
It was announced at Gamescom back in August. A quick Bing search will pull up dozens of stories about it.
Source?
Source?
Tomato.
After the pain that Microsoft gave me with "games for windows live", I don't trust Microsoft store. I'll wait a month and get it from steam.
But the Windows Store is nothing like Games for Windows Live. Haven't you downloaded games from the Window Store a Windows Phone or Windows PC? Same thing. Simple and to the point.. and with Xbox stuff :)
Makes sense to have games distributed through the store, just make sure they are not making things exclusive and alienating steam.
You know that Steam has very much more to offer then anything Windows store could, dont you? PC gamers dont care about console exclusives because they are too busy playing Steam games
uh, which is why i said they shoudln't be alienating steam and making things exclusive to windows store. All their games shoudl be available via steam as well because if most peoplpe are using the steam platform vs windows store which will be the case, you will get more exposure by putting games on steam. if you make things strictly available through the windows store, may not get as much exposure.
Why? Why should Microsoft support Steam--a competitor--when they have there own platform (Xbox) and distribution method (the Store)?
Ms is NOT the publisher anymore damnit >|< its just part of the exclusivity's deal that the game will hit the store as well. Steam and ps4 and general pc release is 'thank god' square enix again ;)
Everyone knows that Microsoft "is NOT the publisher anymore damnit". That wasn't part of the question. Microsoft secured timed console exclusivity for this game; they should've done the same for the Windows 10 Store as well regarding the PC release. They should be burying the parasite that is Steam whenever possible.
I still don't understand how steam is a parasite, no one is forcing you to use it.
I personally really like Steam. You can access games in alpha or beta and communicate with indie developers and influence the making of the game. I only use Steam gift cards. There is a great community in Steam. There are also a lot of games exclusive to Windows. Talk about sales. I bought the entire Tomb Raider franchise for $17.99 and fell in love with the adult Lara Croft.
Yeah, Steam is so better then any other store, they dont know what they are talking about
People can hate on steam as much as they want, but deals there are simply the best I've ever seen, there is no store with discounts and variety that big.
agree 100%...If you game on the PC, you NEED to have a Steam account... Period.. Unless you HATE choice of games and LOVE to over pay for games...
I game on PC and I will never have a Steam account...Period.. Furthermore, the potential of Xbox unifying gaming across PCs, consoles, tablets, phones, and HoloLens is much more enticing than anything any other gaming company is or can offer.
And once Microsoft actually does that I'm sure it'll be fantastic, but until that happens who cares about a feature that doesn't exist yet?
Steam wouldn't help me recover my account holding more than $500 worth of games, they also "lost" my correspondence with them on the matter on two different occasions. Then a few years later my friend noticed his card being used to buy games on steam even though he didn't even play games. Steam did nothing to help with the fraud charges and the case ended up being dropped.
Steam is horrible when it comes to customer service. Everybody should use GoG and Windows Store and take steam back to earth.
Partly, but... Agreed!
Yeah, costumer support is dumb at steam BUT the windows store doesn't even have a god dang costumer support ! There's just the feedback app, and I am not reporting game related problems in a feedback app.
That's why steam is better, there you can directly interact with the community if you have problems and get i game help and tips, groups to join with other ppl, and so on.
Gaming is about community and the windows store just simply can't provide any of that. Period
I have been chatting with Microsoft several times...
Steam is awesome, a lot more games than the "wanabe" Microsoft PC game in the Microsoft store...
That's cool. I don't think I'd buy it, but I'm much more likely to if it is in the Windows Store.
and I was just thinking "meh this app is cool and has potential but they just trying to sell me Farmville for pc wtf" I hope they really give their best try here, a good alternative to steam would be cool, and if we get to mix xbox and pc gaming like universal apps, that would be REAL GOOD
Very cool. It would be great if we could get more quality titles from Xbox ported to the windows store. Really hope uwp opens the floodgates for things like this and sustains this pace.
Yeah, I'm most definitely NOT buying anything that expensive from that mess that is the Windows Store. I rather buy the normal disc version. Or the XBone version, really.
Lol. You're still here.
I thought he would have bled out by now considering all the menstruating he's been doing here.
I've been here way longer than you, mate. Way, way longer ;)
Why?
I'll still use steam for games. The reason is that is because steam is multi platform and is available in windows, linux and osx. I dual boot between linux and windows and its handy that I can play games from steam on both platforms without having to buy the same game twice. Posted via the Windows Central App for Android
Here's hoping they also bring the Enhance Edition of Ori to the Windows Store.
They already said they are.
I hope they update the original version for free tbh, don't want to buy it again
Good, tired of Steam.
Well, they do have some kind of gaming monopoly, and a monopoly is a bad thing.
If Microsoft can get their store to the same level as the mac app store, things will be good. People should be able to buy all of their games (AAA titles, not just small mobile games)
Gabe Newell's worst fears are becoming real. Good.
as long as it hits the PC long before the PS4...I dont care... Already about 65% through the Xbox one version....epic game (GOTY possable)
While they should be careful to not rival steam, this is a very good move for Microsoft. It would also be nice if this supports cross buy :)
Why should they be careful not to rival Steam? If anything, they need to be as aggressive as possible, like, as in, five years ago.
Being a high graphics game, will it still have support for resolution changing and graphics toggles or we would ourselves hunt down the files and tweak settings there? Posted via the Windows Central App
That's so Sweet!
Good
Get your beast PCs ready.
Awesome. Just wish they had better control over where you install the so app... And then more importantly, buy it once and get it on both PC and Xbox.
Normally I'd buy it through Steam but this time I'm going use the Windows Store, provided it has cheevos
I understand letting Lara seem unsure and/or miserable occasionally, but it felt like she wore that expression through the whole game. She seemed pretty capable and confident in her actions, so they could have let her have a more confident look as her main demeanor.

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