Toby Gard departs from Crystal Dynamics

Toby Gard, the creator of the Tomb Raider series, has unexpectedly departed from Crystal Dynamics.

The British-born developer, who had gained a strong reputation from his work on the early editions of Tomb Raider, recently announced he was "leading a design group for an unannounced project" at Californian studio Crystal Dynamics.

However, according to his latest LinkedIn profile, Gard has departed from that role after taking it on in January.

“Obviously it’s confidential what goes on at Crystal Dynamics,” Gard told Develop today, “but the situation is that I’m no longer working with them, and I’ve started up my own consultancy business.”

Gard did not confirm the situation surrounding his departure.

When Crystal Dynamics developed Tomb Raider Legend, Gard was sworn in as a consultant. As the studio moved on to develop Tomb Raider Anniversary – a retrospective on Gard’s previous work – Gard shifted his role to Lead Designer.

With Crystal Dynamics’ third main Tomb Raider title, suffixed Underworld, Gard moved to serve as Cinematic Director.

Crystal Dynamics could not be contacted at the time of going to press.