Ian Livingstone isn’t Eidos life pres for nothing. He’s a walking, breathing hype machine for the next Tomb Raider title, and we’re happy he’s around.

In an interview with Gaming Indians, Livingstone talked about Underworld’s supposedly lackluster performance and Tomb Raider’s appeal as a continuing franchise. “As a franchise, I don’t think Lara Croft is going down at all. In fact, her popularity continues to increase.” He goes on to compare Lara’s commercial and critical performance across games to James Bond. “If you look at movies, James Bond has survived 40 years. Not all those films have been great, but the character remains strong.”

But that’s not even the juicy part.

On the ninth Tomb Raider title, Livingstone says that it “will surprise a lot of people and reinvigorate the franchise. There are some remarkable things we’re doing in the next Tomb Raider to make you say, ‘Oh Lara, I love you so much!’” Well, in our case, maybe it will make us say, “Oh Lara, I love you even more!”

We’ll definitely have more on ‘Raider IX as it develops, which it will.