Square Enix CEO of the Americas and Europe, Phil Rogers, has acknowledged that the Tomb Raider developer knew it would "disappoint" fans with its exclusivity deal with Microsoft.

"I hope fans know that it wasn’t an easy decision," said Rogers, talking to The Examiner. "I think any sort of partnership at this level is a decision that took a long time for us to get to. The decision at a studio level, we took very, very seriously. We knew it would, in the short-term, disappoint fans."

The decision to partner with Microsoft was eventually reached when Square Enix saw Microsoft's "amazing passion" for the game.

"Having been working with us on previous games in a lesser sense, they’ve been supportive. [However], for Rise of the Tomb Raider, they’ve just brought this passion and belief that has really enabled us to blow people away. People should feel that about Microsoft. Their commitment to Tomb Raider is just amazing for us," Rogers said.

"To see Tomb Raider showcased with Halo, Forza and Gears and see Tomb Raider there, it’s amazing for us.

"It becomes the most important thing. We’re about growing our IP, this is a long-term decision. We’re going to take Tomb Raider up to the next level. With Microsoft’s belief, passion and sort of muscle to help us deliver, we really think this is going to be an awesome game that people will enjoy for years and years to come," Rogers said.

Square Enix has confirmed the PC version of the game will arrive in "early 2016", while console exclusivity will last for a year. This means Rise of the Tomb Raider won't land on PS4 until "Holiday 2016", as the Xbox One and Xbox 360 versions are due for release on November 10, 2015.