Tomb Raider's Official Lara Croft Redesign Leaves Gamers With One Huge Concern - MCE Notices | California State Portal

Fans are split on Lara Croft’s new character design for the upcoming Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis. Initially announced at last year’s Game Awards, Legacy of Atlantis is a reboot of the original Tomb Raider. More details of its release, including a finalized release date, various editions, and preorder rewards, were revealed in a gameplay trailer during a pre-Summer Game Fest PlayStation State of Play.

However, some fans of the series noticed something troubling about heroine Lara Croft’s new design, especially as it appears on the cover art for one of its fancier editions. While nothing has been confirmed as of yet, if the rumors are true, they speak to a concerning trend in the gaming industry.

Dandeli0ness on X (formerly Twitter) pointed to some inconsistencies in Lara’s design on the Collector’s Edition steel case. Her pistol and the straps of her backpack look a little unusual, leading this user to suspect that the cover art may have been generated with AI.

Some commenters, like Toasty, jumped to the cover’s defense, suggesting it was likely an AI-upscaled version of the cover art, which was only shown in very low resolution during the State of Play trailer. However, the original poster was quick to point out that a high-resolution image of this cover actually appears on the official Tomb Raider website.

Other commenters simply accepted the accusation at face value. Eggi called it “absolutely tasteless,” and GracasaDeus “a whole mess.” Some say it turned them off the game or the series entirely, with user Becky_TheBoo commenting, “It’s honestly embarrassing…I’m not getting another new Tomb Raider game again.”

Some critiqued it for the perceived laziness of using an AI-generated cover design, with Caramel Kaiteki commenting, “Why though? They already have the mode and the environments, it’s not like it’d cost more to just pose the character and create the cover art that way.”

Still other commenters dismissed the use of AI, with Seeker_of_Hearts joking, “Shamelessly using a tool. Shame on them!” Aiden Janus asked, “Why do people care so much?”

For what it’s worth, I’m not fully convinced the cover art is AI-generated; even if it is, I’m not convinced it’s the final product. The image on the official Tomb Raider website is labeled with the disclaimer, “Contents shown are representative. Final product may differ.”

That may just be boilerplate language used to protect the company from legal action if they tweak the cover design prior to release, or it may be taken at face value; this may be an early rendering of a cover design to be announced later.

We already know, though, that developers at Crystal Dynamics are using AI in the making of Legacy of Atlantis; an AI disclaimer recently appeared on its Steam page, provoking some fans to boycott the game. The company had a round of layoffs a few months ago, which hasn’t helped assuage fan fears that human developers are being replaced. Really, it’s not yet clear to what extent AI is being used in Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis‘ development or cover art, but suffice it to say it’s already raised a few eyebrows.