Japan’s Lara Croft anime redesign proposal rejected by Tomb Raider’s original creators

Tomb Raider co-creator Paul Douglas revealed that Japanese publisher Victor Interactive once floated an anime-style redesign of Lara Croft to appeal to Japanese audiences, even sending a fax with design ideas like oversized eyes. Toby Gard reportedly didn’t want to alter Lara, so a compromise was reached: manga-style visuals appeared in manuals rather than changing Lara herself. The images surfaced from early 2020s concept work, while Crystal Dynamics is pursuing a ground-up remake named Legacy of Atlantis and a new Lara Croft project with Amazon called Catalyst, set to take Lara to Northern India.