Publisher Microsoft has confirmed that the upcoming expansion pack for "Rise of the Tomb Raider," titled "Baba Yaga: Temple of the Witch," will launch on January 26.
As noted by the company, this major content update will feature additional hours of gameplay, Gamespot reported.
As previously explained by the company, "Baba Yaga: Temple of the Witch," will pit series protagonist Lara Croft against the boogieman from Slavic folklore. The expansion pack will also feature new puzzles to solve as well as a new tomb to explore. It will also come with a new outfit and bow for Croft.
"Baba Yaga: The Temple of the Witch" is part of the game's $29.99 Season Pass, which means those who purchase this edition will immediately get the expansion pack once it debuts. It is not yet clear how much it will cost for those who only bought the standard edition of the game.
"Rise of the Tomb Raider," the second installment for the reboot series, originally came out in November of last year for the Xbox 360 and Xbox One through a time-exclusive deal between Microsoft and developer Crystal Dynamics.
The game is scheduled to arrive for the Microsoft Windows on January 28. Aside from the main game, the PC version of the expansion pack will also be available to gamers once it officially comes out.
As for owners of Sony's PlayStation 4 console, it is not yet clear when the game will exactly arrive for the next-gen gaming system. But, it seems Microsoft's time-exclusive deal for the game is about to end as "Rise of the Tomb Raider" is expected to launch for the PlayStation 4 sometime during the fourth quarter of this year. It will probably arrive in November, a year after its official debut for the Xbox consoles.
Although Microsoft may have benefited by launching the game on its own consoles only, analysts believe this is not exactly the case for its business partner. According to David Cole of DFC Intelligence, since the PlayStation 4 is one of the leading gaming systems in the market today, Crystal Dynamics may have missed a huge financial opportunity by snubbing players of this console.
"The problem with exclusives in today's market is you have a clear market leader," he said according to PlayStation Lifestyle. "So if you are not on that platform, you lose a major market opportunity and it would take a lot for Microsoft or another competitor to reimburse you for lost opportunities.
