Leaked portions of the script for the next Tomb Raider game were removed from the internet this week after developer Crystal Dynamics issued DMCA takedown notices to those who posted them.
The leaked script is said to have been used as an audition script for the part of Lara Croft, and showed her dealing with the isolation brought on by her success while leading a team of younger archaeologists.
Sacred Symbols, a PlayStation-focused podcast series run on Patreon by Last Stand Media and hosted by its CEO, Colin Moriarty, read out the script in a podcast episode this week. After Crystal Dynamics and publisher Square Enix issued the takedown notice to Patreon, Moriarty said Crystal Dynamics had "[forced] our hand," and took down the video in question.
In a follow-up video explaining the situation, Moriarty said, "They DMCA'd Patreon to have them ask us to take down the offending audio of us talking about the new Tomb Raider Game, which we've leaked as Project Jawbreaker."
He continued: "I was acting on the notion that this is fair use, this is general interest, this is of huge general interest."
Although Moriarty and team said they have edited the Patreon version of the episode to remove the offending material, the podcast episode will remain as is on other platforms until Crystal or Square decides to issue DMCA notices on those platforms — for now, only Patreon has received such a notice.
As to where he got the script, Moriarty said he received it from a source that he chose not to name. "I didn't break into Crystal Dynamics and steal it," he said.
Crystal Dynamics announced work had begun on the next Tomb Raider game in Aril, when it revealed the game would be built using Unreal Engine 5. Although Square Enix was still acting as publisher of the game through this DMCA tamp down, the company opted to sell Crystal Dynamics to Embracer Group as part of a massive $300 million deal inked in May.
This article was originally published on dbltap as Tomb Raider Leaks Taken Down After Crystal Dynamics Issues DMCA Notices.