Yep, also as
@Bo_Hazem said they could also do some animations through Sony's animation studios/channels, including stuff like CG anime series that could go on Crunchyroll/Funimation. It'd make sense since that's how Ember Lab started out.
I remember reading back when DQ VII came out that in Japan they actually had a soft-holiday for its release and businessmen/businesswomen were able to take off work just to play the game on release. Also IIRC, it sold something like 4 million copies there on Day 1, which is insane. We wouldn't start seeing that type of stuff until GTA5 and later COD games decades later.
Believe it was an article in an EGM issue where I read it; don't know how true it is but if it was true then at least at one point, Dragon Quest was a much bigger deal in Japan than Final Fantasy, that's for sure.
Dunno, Tomb Raider definitely has some strong legacy, but it's tied to the first three or so games, so outside of a remake of those what else could it offer? Also the original TR games were built on the grid-based system; I think remaking them would be more difficult than say the RE1/2/3 remakes because TR 1-3 were explicitly built around the grid system, how would you translate that to a non grid-based third-person 3D world of today? How would you translate the iconic levels of the original games into that type of modern space and still be faithful to the old designs while modernizing them?
But there's also the opinion that maybe TR was just seen as too redundant for Sony? They have Uncharted, they have strong male and female characters in that IP already. If they want a Tomb Raider-style take they can just do more of what they did with Lost Legacy, or focus on Drake's daughter. Add in some inspired takes of certain game mechanics from the recent Tomb Raider games and you essentially have your Tomb-Raider all in-house and without needing to buy another IP to do it.
If anything I was more surprised Microsoft didn't buy Crystal Dynamics or even the Tomb Raider IP, since that's something so many insiders were gossiping (or "hyping") up for half a year if not longer. They may technically have Indiana Jones but that's under license and AFAIK only for a single game that's probably tied to the upcoming film in some way. They'll never have full creative control over that as long as Disney & LucasArts still own the IP, so that'll limit what things MS/Machinegun Games can do with any IJ games until they prove a big success or two with the IP under current terms. That could be upwards a decade!
Sony wouldn't of had that type of complication with Tomb Raider, but if they want to focus on more thematic variety and not have something that might fly too close to Uncharted , I can kind of understand. As long as Uncharted itself is pushing forward, keeping to very high standards and innovating here and there with new releases.
