In multiple, detailed posts on TombRaiderForums.com, a poster who appears to be Tomb Raider: Underworld creative director Eric Lindstrom has given unique insight into his five years of working on Tomb Raider, also confirming that he was one of 30 Crystal Dynamics employees recently laid off by parent Eidos.

"...I am no longer an employee of Crystal Dynamics (yes, I was one of the 30)..." Lindstrom told surprised Tomb Raider fans. The forum's administrator said that the account does belong to Lindstrom, and the detail of the posts gives credence to the claim, althought we've been unable to contact Lindstrom directly.

Last week, Eidos said that Tomb Raider: Underworld, released November 18, 2008, had sold 1.5 million copies by year-end, short of the publisher's 2 million unit goal. The shortfall came just prior to Eidos' announcement that it would be laying off 30 workers.

"When I got my pink slip (walking papers, ticket to exit, etc.) I didn't take it personally because of the nature of the focus the studio wants to take," adding, "...There really isn't room for as many ship captains. ... I mostly thought about paying my mortgage."

Lindstrom, who also worked as story designer on Tomb Raider: Legend, addressed rumors that had been posted on the TombRaiderForum.com message boards regarding the previously-announced downloadable content for the Xbox 360 version of Underworld. Anonymous posters claiming to be employees or ex-employees of Crystal Dynamics said this content was willfully extracted and held back from Underworld with the sole purpose to cash in on download sales at a later time.

But Lindstrom claimed this was not the case. According to the director, he personally made the decision to cut content in order to hit the game's release date; not to use said content to make a quick buck for Eidos via a paid download.

"It was my idea to cut what was cut, and I did hope that it would one day be made available as a download mission, because there was great content already conceived and half completed, but on the day we made the cut, it was made purely for Underworld production reasons."

The upcoming downloadable missions are made up of the cut content as well as new content, he said.

He also addressed a multitude of fans' questions in great detail, pertaining to the franchise's history and storyline.

Lindstrom (along with the other former Crystal Dynamics employees) is now job-hunting.

"I'm looking for a new home, and have many friends in the industry...wish me luck!"