Days Gone director Jeff Ross has joined Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics.
In a tweet, Ross announced he was joining the studio as design director just hours after it revealed it was working on a new Tomb Raider game. He didn't confirm which game he'd be working on though, as Crystal Dynamics is also co-developing the Perfect Dark reboot with The Initiative, and continues to work on Marvel's Avengers.
I'm excited to announce I now work at the amazing Crystal Dynamics as Design Director. That's all I can say other than I'm thrilled with the project, and especially the team of really wonderful people.
— Jeff Ross (@JakeRocket) April 5, 2022
I will become a Seattleite this summer.
Also--Come work with me! https://t.co/HjDFIFk7MF
Ross will be joining Crystal North West in Seattle this summer, a subsidiary studio of Crystal Dynamics, but his LinkedIn profile indicates he's been a Crystal Dynamics employee since February.
Ross has previously expressed his desire to work on an Uncharted game, and considering that Crystal Dynamics took inspiration from the PlayStation exclusive when it rebooted Tomb Raider, it would certainly make sense if he was a lead in Lara Croft's latest.
He's also been vocal about the sequel to Bend Studio's Days Gone that never got to happen, saying it was pitched to be a shared universe co-op game with a "more technical direction". The original game was treated like a disappointment by management though, Ross said, and sequel hopes were apparently dashed when ex-chairman of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios, Shawn Layden left the company.
The new Tomb Raider game is being developed in Unreal Engine 5 with franchise general manager Dallas Dickinson promising a "high-quality cinematic action-adventure experience".
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.