Recently, Jeff Adams, Experience Director at Crystal Dynamics, revealed that Tomb Raider: The Lost Legacy of Atlantis, a reimagining of the original 1996 Tomb Raider, does not retain any legacy source code from the original game. All content has been built from scratch using Unreal Engine 5.
Tomb Raider: The Lost Legacy of Atlantis is not a simple HD remaster but a modern reconstruction of the original. Since the original project's code is no longer usable, the development team had to build the entire technical framework from the ground up using Unreal Engine 5, fully leveraging native engine features such as Nanite virtualized geometry and Lumen global illumination to achieve high-fidelity visuals. On this foundation, engineers also developed numerous customized technical modules tailored to the game's needs, including a dedicated physics system to accommodate tomb-exploration mechanics and trap interaction logic.
Adams also specifically mentioned Lara's long braid as a prime example of custom development. Her hair features realistic physics-based swaying that responds to actions like running, jumping, and climbing, rather than relying on default engine effects.
Tomb Raider: The Lost Legacy of Atlantis is scheduled for release on February 12, 2027, launching on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Switch 2. The story preserves the main narrative arc of the original, with Lara traversing Peruvian jungles, Greek ruins, and Egyptian deserts before finally heading to Atlantis to seek fragments of the Scion artifact. Meanwhile, the game expands its environmental spaces, transforming the relatively enclosed rooms of the original into interconnected large-scale environments, with puzzles, combat, and level design all modernized.