Rhianna Pratchett is lead writer on Tomb Raider reboot

In what couldn’t possibly be a clumsy attempt to distance themselves from all that controversy about a rape scene in the game and the complicated politics of gender representation in the industry today, Crystal Dynamics has announced that – TADA! – Rhianna Pratchett is the lead writer on the Tomb Raider reboot. She’s a woman, you see, so everything is okay now.

Pratchett has previously worked on Mirror’s Edge, Prince of Persia, and the Overlord series.

“Rhianna has been working on the game with the narrative from its early inception,” said Crystal Dynamics boss Darrell Gallagher. “She has brought a unique perspective to the project and helped us explore the character origins of Lara Croft. There is no doubt that Rhianna has brought a depth and credibility to Lara, a heroine who will really connect with today’s gamers.”

Depth and credibility? Now we can forget about all that other stuff and pretend it never happened. What happened? Exactly.

“I grew up playing Tomb Raider, uncovering the world’s secrets and unearthing its treasures; I have lived and died as Lara Croft, but nothing comes close to the challenge of re-writing her,” said Rhianna Pratchett. “Seldom do we get the opportunity to reimagine and reinvent a legend, so getting my narrative hands on Miss Croft was a once-in-a-life-time opportunity. It was going back to the genesis of videogame action heroines and exploring how to make such an iconic character meaningful and relatable for gamers today.”

Tomb Raider is slated for release on March 5th 2013.