Developer Crystal Dynamics unveiled its first major DLC expansion for Rise of the Tomb Raider at The Game Awards last night, announcing that “Baba Yaga: The Temple of the Witch” will launch via Xbox Live in January.
Promising “hours of new gameplay,” Baba Yaga: The Temple of the Witch will extend the core Rise of the Tomb Raider experience with new environments, additional enemy types, and storyline content that features supernatural elements throughout.
Baba Yaga: The Temple of the Witch will take Rise of the Tomb Raider players into unexplored territory for the series. The footage featured at The Game Awards shows protagonist Lara Croft suffering from hallucinations as she’s attacked by otherworldly creatures, forcing players to fend off newfound threats as Lara grapples with her sanity.
Available exclusively for the Xbox One and Xbox 360 at launch, Baba Yaga: The Temple of the Witch will be downloadable for players who purchased Rise of the Tomb Raider‘s DLC Season Pass. The new storyline chapter will also be available as a standalone download.
Rise of the Tomb Raider is a direct sequel to 2013’s franchise reboot Tomb Raider, which recast video game icon Lara Croft as a younger, less experienced adventurer. Taking inspiration from Naughty Dog’s Uncharted series, the new Tomb Raider games mix third-person shooter gameplay with exploration segments and cinematic sequences driven by quick-time events.
Currently, Rise of the Tomb Raider is only available for the Xbox One and Xbox 360 as part of a timed exclusivity agreement between developer Crystal Dynamics, publisher Square Enix, and Microsoft. The exclusivity period will end next year, and Steam and Windows 10 versions of Rise of the Tomb Raider will launch in “early 2016.” A PlayStation 4 port will arrive in “Holiday 2016.”
A specific release date for Baba Yaga: The Temple of the Witch was not announced.
