Amazon turns to another major game franchise after enormous Fallout success

Quick Summary

Amazon Prime Video will be home to a new TV series based on the exploits of Lara Croft.

The Tomb Raider show will be written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, of Fleabag fame.

Amazon Prime Video has turned its eye to another major gaming franchise ripe for a TV adaptation, fresh from the success of its Fallout show.

A new Tomb Raider show has been given the green light by the streaming service, and will be written by Fleabag star Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who sounds pretty thrilled about the situation.

She said: "If I could tell my teenage self this was happening I think she’d explode. Tomb Raider has been a huge part of my life and I feel incredibly privileged to be bringing it to television with such passionate collaborators.

"Lara Croft means a lot to me, as she does to many, and I can’t wait to go on this adventure. Bats ‘n all."

It's all happening in concert with the series' developer Crystal Dynamics and IP-owner Embracer Group. It'll be produced by both Crystal Dynamics and Amazon MGM Studios.

Embracer Group said in a statement: "The series, based on the iconic Tomb Raider video game franchise, follows the adventures of world-famous archaeologist and adventurer Lara Croft."

That doesn't tell us much, obviously, so we're left relatively in the dark on whether we'll be watching an origin story for Lara once again, or if the show will pick up with her already an established adventurer.

It'll also be interesting to see whether Waller-Bridge uses the grittier and more realistic tone that the modern games favoured, in which Lara is battered and bruised by her encounters – or if she'll stick to the original series' campier vibes.

When the show finally arrives, it'll do so as a Prime Video exclusive, just as Fallout was, which will mean it'll stream at no extra cost to Prime subscribers.

There might be a race on to see which comes first, too – the Tomb Raider TV series or a new game in the franchise. We know that one is coming, after all, with an announcement back in 2022 confirming that it would be published by Amazon Games.

That underlines the fact that this is a big partnership between Crystal Dynamics and Amazon–- if we were feeling ambitious, we'd start to hope that the series and game will arrive with a lot of tie-ins to each other, given they're both from the same companies.