Players booting up Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered will be greeted by a content warning explaining why current custodian Crystal Dynamics kept in some of the iffier moments from the earlier games. The first three entries in the series were developed by UK studio Core Design in the 90s. They featured some unfortunate racial and ethnic stereotypes, which Crystal Dynamics has decided to preserve for future generations.
As reported by IGN, the below content warning is displayed upon booting up the game. Crystal Dynamics states that this collection contains "offensive depictions of peoples and cultures rooted in racial and ethnic prejudices... and do not align with our values at Crystal Dynamics". Interestingly, Crystal Dynamics has opted to keep the content it deemed questionable as a lesson for future generations, explaining that: "We have chosen to present it here in its original form, unaltered, in the hopes that we may acknowledge its harmful impact and learn from it".
It's not specified exactly what part of the trilogy Crystal Dynamics is talking about, but if we had to guess, it's probably Lara's adventures in the South Pacific that are to blame. There, Croft shoots loincloth-clad blowgun-wielding South Pacific islanders who are implied to be cannibals. It's not often you see a developer say they keep outdated, potentially controversial depictions. Of course, altering classic games can elicit a strong reaction from another audience segment, with cries of "censorship" levelled at studios who modernise content.