Lara Croft download game to be ?10

Crystal Dynamics has told Eurogamer that Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light will cost roughly a tenner.

"We believe that, in terms of the arcade space, we're trying to raise the bar of what it means to spend 10 pounds or 1200 Microsoft Points on nowadays," global brand manager Karl Stewart revealed.

"Yeah, it's what we're aiming at," he added, when pressed. "Obviously we're dictated to somewhat by the first-parties and their pricing models. Right now we've suggested to them that we want to come in line with all of the rest of the big hitters that have come out over the last year or so."

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is a downloadable Tomb Raider spin-off for PC, PSN and XBLA. The game will feature co-op for the first time ever in the series. Karl Stewart reckons there are roughly eight hours of gameplay on offer.

The game has no release date, but a simultaneous ship sometime in July or August appears to be the goal.

"The plan is to have a sim-ship, but we won't know until post-E3," Stewart said. "We'll have the game in submission in about two weeks, so it will be complete. It'll be about a month and then it will be up to Microsoft and Sony as to when they want us [the game] to come out.

"Summer is the biggest time for arcade gaming and they [the platform holders] have their time-lines," he added. "For PC we pick the date, but obviously we want to make sure we get as close to sim-ship as possible."

Stewart said Crystal Dynamics has been told July and August are the "two biggest windows for arcade gaming".

Karl Stewart had plenty of other things to say about Lara's new direction; head over to our Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light interview to unearth more on this experimental spin-off.