A recent patch for the Tomb Raider I-III Remastered collection patched out some easter egg pinup posters that were present in the original.
Not only were they present in the original, but they were seemingly brought over with more high-res detail in the remastered product, leaving some fans wondering why Aspyr and Crystal Dynamics even bothered.
Lara Croft has been one of the most iconic “femme fatale” characters in gaming ever since her first game came out in 1996, and the posters were a well-known detail among fans.
When Tomb Raider remastered released earlier this year, fans were happy to see the posters managed to make it in without being cut by Aspyr. But two months after the game’s release, Aspyr seemingly went out of their way to remove the posters from the game intentionally.
I thought it was bullshit, but nope, Crystal Dynamics played the OG fans. They censored out the pictures in the update. 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬 https://t.co/HhpMluewio pic.twitter.com/STDZhIEeBq
— DOA Momiji (@momiji_doa) April 19, 2024
Fans were hopeful that the game would be uncensored after Crystal Dynamics added a content warning to the collection which emphatically states that they would not be removing content.
“The games in this collection contain offensive depictions of people and cultures rooted in racism and ethnic prejudices. these stereotypes are deeply harmful, inexcusable, and do not align with our values at Crystal Dynamics.”
“Rather than removing this content, we have chosen to present it here in its original form, unaltered, in the hopes that we may acknowledge its harmful impact and learn from it.”
Tomb Raider I-III Remastered is available now for PC (via Steam), Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5. You can check out our review here.