<Tr> <Th> First release </Th> <Td> Tomb Raider 25 October 1996 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Latest release </Th> <Td> Shadow of the Tomb Raider 14 September 2018 </Td> </Tr> <P> Tomb Raider, also known as Lara Croft: Tomb Raider between 2001 and 2007, is a media franchise that originated with an action - adventure video game series created by British gaming company Core Design . Formerly owned by Eidos Interactive, then by Square Enix after their acquisition of Eidos in 2009, the franchise focuses on a fictional British archaeologist Lara Croft, who travels around the world searching for lost artefacts and infiltrating dangerous tombs and ruins . The gameplay generally focuses around action - adventure exploration of environments, solving puzzles, navigating hostile environments filled with traps, and fighting numerous enemies . Additional media has grown up around the theme in the form of film adaptations, comics and novels . </P> <P> Development on the original Tomb Raider game began in 1993 . Its success prompted Core Design to develop a new game annually for the next four years, which put a strain on staff . The sixth game, The Angel of Darkness, faced difficulties during development and was considered a failure at release . This prompted Eidos to switch development duties to Crystal Dynamics, which has been the series' primary developer since then . Other developers have contributed either to spin - off titles within the series or ports of mainline titles . </P>

Tomb raider which came first movie or game