Having created the Lara Croft character in 1996, Toby Gard left then-developer Core Design a year later to go his own way and released Galleon: Islands of Mystery in 2004. After that, he came to Crystal Dynamics as one of the senior designers on the Tomb Raider team, where he would complement the existing team and create Tomb Raider: Legend. Earlier this year, Gard became lead designer on an unannounced Tomb Raider project, and while he refused to comment as to the real reason, Gard insists the split was amicable. Gard is currently a freelance consultant, with a focus on animation, story and cinematic design, character design, game design and balancing.