After the disappointing delay of BioShock Infinite into next year, I was hoping there would be no more casualties from the crowded holiday season. Unfortunately, one of this year’s best looking games has also slipped into the far off future of 2013.

Tomb Raider, the reboot of the franchise from Crystal Dynamics that sees a younger Lara Croft trapped on an island, was announced to have been delayed until next year. It’s unfortunate to see such a promising title move further away, but the head of Crystal Dynamics, Darrell Gallagher, took to the Eidos forums to assure fans that the delay only means good things for Tomb Raider fans.

When Crystal Dynamics first set out to reboot the Tomb Raider franchise, there were two goals that we were extremely passionate about. The first was to create a modern Tomb Raider game that would surprise and excite gamers. The second was to make this the best game of our careers, something we would be really proud to be a part of. We truly believe that we have something very special on our hands and we can’t wait to share it with you.

Our priority now is to make sure we fully deliver the very highest quality game. In order to do this, we have decided to move the game’s release date by a few months, from Fall 2012 to the first quarter of 2013.

We’re doing things that are completely new to Tomb Raider in this game and the additional development time will allow us to put the finishing touches into the game and polish it to a level that you deserve. We believe this is the right choice and I guarantee it will be worth the wait. The game is looking amazing and we can’t wait to show it to everyone at E3 in a few weeks.

As with every delay, there’s going to be some disappointment and outright anger from the community. Here’s hoping the delay makes Tomb Raider more amazing than it already looks. E3 is sure to bring more information and possibly a solid release date.

If you’ve not been following the Tomb Raider reboot, I would suggest you check out the trailer. The team at Crystal Dynamics are doing some awesome things with the title that makes me excited to return to the world of Lara Croft after the last few disappointing adventures.

[h/t: Joystiq]