I really don't see a sequel happening after this. Even on PS4 the sales probably won't be great considering it is a year old game.

It will have good legs, because its already having positive word of mouth with gamers.

However, the real reason for it "under-performing" is the absolutely fucking idiotic decision to release it when they did. Right after the 1-2-3 combo of Assassin's Creed, Syndicate, Halo 5 and Black Ops 3, they launched it during the same Week as Fallout 4. People only have so much money to spend on videogames, and the Tomb Raider franchise is a long, long way behind the likes of Halo, Call of Duty, Fallout, Need for Speed, Assassin's Creed and Star Wars.

Tomb Raider simply isnt a priority buy for the mass market. This title would be far, far more suited to the summer Months where it avoids the mega releases.

Carl2291 hit the nail on the head exactly.

The sales are certainly disappointing for a game that is this good.  This game is one of the best I've played all year.

This brand just can't compete with the juggernaut franchises that launched at the same time, and people still buy these games no matter the quality (ie. COD).  

This game deserves to be a top seller based on quality, but that unfortunately is not how this market works anymore.  Instead we keep paying for and feeding the shit that gets spewed year after year, instead of promoting great games.

Unless you have a financial investment/shares in Microsoft, you really shouldn't care about how well this game sells.  Just enjoy the great game that it is.

Would've been interesting to be a fly on the wall for MS's discussions for when to release the game. I'd like to have heard the side of the argument that obviously lost out to "Let's release the game on the same day as Fallout". I'd love to know the reasoning for why they knowingly took on this risk. Surely they could've released the game in December like Far Cry 3 did in 2012 and as Just Cause 3 will this year.

Pretty sad state of affairs when an obscure game like Until Dawn will most likely outsell Tomb Raider on Xbox. However I think it's important not to underestimate Tomb Raider's ability to sell down the line. I've anecdotally heard a lot of people say that they'll buy it in a month or two. The problem is though that it'll cost less in that time and also I read an article recently saying that publishers have to pay retailers to keep their games on the shelf for an extended period of time - and it seems like that'll be happening here.

Very much agreed! However, you said better suited for the Summer months, so if they had the game pinned for around this time's release should they have delayed it for the Summer? Alternatively, I feel they could have gone the same route Bloodborne did and release it Q1, in this case between the end of January till March. 

Was definitely a dumb ass move to release it on F4 week. 

Little off topic, but perhaps that's why XCX is releasing in NA first week of Decemeber... maybe they should have done something like that. Oh well, maybe they'll learn. 

Who's care, it is one of the best games of 2015 !!

Thousands of people who work at Microsoft, Square Enix and CD for starters lol. Given this is a website about game sales, I'm confused by your post. I think this thread is less about Tomb Raider's "failure" and more about the study of this buisness model of timed exclusives and releasing of games alongside bigger games.

I'm not convinced "Word of Mouth" is a legitimate reason to expect the game to have legs. Legs are typically a result of "replayability" and "retention". Word of Mouth can encourage sales, but without the prior two, the sales base won't grow significantly. 

The thing is I would definitely get it right now if it was on the PS4 but I'm not spending $360 to play TR atm (only other game I would play is Halo 5) I'm just going to have to wait a year to play it oh well, it'll go well with holiday 2016 this and Horizon, it'll be female protagonist galore

They delayed it on Sony to get dat MS money and avoid competing with Uncharted.

Instead they decided to go head-to-head with Fallout 4 - which is incredibly idiotic.  They are getting exactly what they "Diserve". 

I liked the first Tomb Raider a lot, but was always just a Me-Too Uncharted game with a hot chick - albeit really well done.