Tomb Raider fans come together and apply pressure to have the “exclusivity” overturned.

UPDATE FROM TIM: Microsoft have stated that Rise of the Tomb Raider is a timed exclusive, so there’s a pretty good chance it’ll head to other platforms.

Yesterday’s reveal that Rise of the Tomb Raider would only be coming to the Xbox One upset large portions of the gaming community, mainly those that don’t have an Xbox One and have no intention of ever buying one.

Fans of the classic Tomb Raider franchise are reeling at this exclusivity decision and have created a petition to “Rescind the arrangement to publish Rise of the Tomb Raider exclusively on Xbox One.” The petition note to Square reads:

We the undersigned fans urge you to rescind the arrangement to publish Rise of the Tomb Raider exclusively on Xbox One.

Since its origins in 1996, Tomb Raider has been a multi-platform franchise with fans all over the world playing on diverse systems and devices. The recent decision to release the upcoming Rise of the Tomb Raider as an Xbox One exclusive alienates the majority of the fan base and will ultimately lead to the demise of the franchise.

We urge you to reconsider this decision and bring the game out on all three major platforms–PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One–simultaneously.

In the few hours that the petition has been live, just under 10,000 signatures have been collected which is not be sniffed at. This petition will gather pace but is unlikely to make a difference if Rise of the Tomb Raider is a truly exclusive to the Xbone. If you feel aggrieved by this decision then it won’t hurt to add your name to the list.

In the world of consoles the term “exclusive” is generally overused and most “exclusives” end up being timed exclusives with the game eventually coming out on other platforms.

Last night Tim took a look at what this Rise of the Tomb Raider “exclusive” actually means, investigating all the evidence and quotes from both Square and Crystal Dynamics. The whole situation is a rather odd when you look at the sales numbers and the fact that Square were disappointed that the last Tomb Raider hadn’t hit their predicted sales targets.