Tomb Raider super fan reveals they were behind trilogy remaster

A Tomb Raider fan and modder has revealed that they put their own personal projects on hold for a very good reason: they have actually been leading the development of Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered.

XProger is the brains behind OpenLara, an open-source cross-platform engine of the classic Tomb Raider series. However, this project and others are now on hold, as XProger was scooped up by Aspyr's parent company Saber Interactive to work on its official Tomb Raider project.

“For the past year I've been busy with a dream project that has become the culmination of the last eight years of my life – Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered,” XProger shared on X, thanking Saber for “trusting me to lead the project and assemble a dream team of true fans.”

XProger said the Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered team had “complete freedom” from the beginning, admitting they set themselves an “impossible goal which could only be approached by a small 'Development Team' of crazy people, ready to work 24/7” with “an absolute vision of what and for whom we are doing.”

Along with Saber, XProger also thanked Aspyr for access to its Mac ports' source code. “You are great pros,” XProger wrote. Last but by no means least, XProger thanked the games' original developers and community. “We eagerly read ALL your comments, interviews, reviews and reactions. The responsibility to all of you was higher than the fear of deadlines and the insane amount of work.”

XProger's hard work and passion has clearly paid off, with scores of praise coming in for Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered. Here at Eurogamer, we awarded it four stars, while acknowledging some of its dated qualities.

“I still love this collection, because it's carefully made and lovingly updated, but also awkward, elbowy, frustrating and prone to leaving me stuck. It's a collection that understands that Tomb Raider was absolutely a game about its controls, and it should still be – even if it doesn't quite know how to deliver on that,” our Donlan wrote in Eurogamer's Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered review.