During Microsoft’s Gamescom conference they made the surprising announcement that the forthcoming Rise of the Tomb Raider will be exclusive to Xbox consoles, and will launch holiday 2015.

Even more interesting is the fact that no mention of it coming to PC or being a timed exclusive was made. Yet it’s hard to believe that Square Enix would make the sequel to their very well received Tomb Raider reboot exclusive to just Microsoft’s consoles especially given their belief that Tomb Raider was a failure in terms of sale.

Don’t be fooled by what some sites are reporting, though. While many outlets are stating that the game will be exclusive to Xbox One, what was actually shown in the announcement video was that the game would be exclusive to Xbox, meaning both the Xbox One and Xbox 360. This was confirmed mere minutes ago on Crystal Dynamic’s website:

“As you may have seen, we’ve just announced that Rise of the Tomb Raider, coming Holiday 2015, is exclusively on Xbox.”

The announcement on the official website also had this to say:

“Tomb Raider in 2013 was a success due in large part to your continued support. Our goal has always been to deliver something truly special with Rise of the Tomb Raider. Today’s announcement with Microsoft is one step to help us put Tomb Raider on top of action adventure gaming. Our friends at Microsoft have always seen huge potential in Tomb Raider and have believed in our vision since our first unveil with them on their stage at E3 2011. We know they will get behind this game more than any support we have had from them in the past – we believe this will be a step to really forging the Tomb Raider brand as one of the biggest in gaming, with the help, belief and backing of a major partner like Microsoft.”

Should Rise of the Tomb Raider truly be exclusive to Xbox then it’s a major acquisition for Microsoft, and is even more surprising when you consider how the Tomb Raider name is so closely tied to the Playstation brand.

What’s more surprising is that just last year Square Enix declared Tomb Raider a failure in terms of sales, and yet now have announced that it will ship on just two platforms, limiting potential profit. Microsoft must have made one hell of an offer.