With the future of the franchise uncertain before this new agreement was worked out, it makes sense that Sony didn’t rush the Robotech movie into production. On the off chance the license wasn’t extended Sony wouldn’t have been able to fully utilize the IP.

Now that the license has been renewed, Sony will be able to take full advantage of the Robotech franchise and their partnership with Harmony Gold is set to expand over the next eighteen months. With Sony viewing Robotech as a possible “Harry Potter style franchise” according to McKeever, they are going to take full advantage of it in all areas. Live-action movies, video games, and more are on the table.

It’s not just with the live action movie either. With the renewal secured Harmony Gold can do more with the Robotech franchise. Whether it’s new product licenses or new animation, having the terms of their agreement fully worked out and renewed with Tatsunoko bodes well for the future.

But what about the Macross sequels? For many many years fans haven’t been able to legally obtain various sequel series to the original Macross outside of Japan. It’s been a huge point of contention, with many people pointing the finger at Harmony Gold. Does this renewal change anything about that?

Right now it appears nothing has changed. In 2017 the upholding of the license agreement made it clear Big West still owns those 41 characters designs and Tatsunoko owns the commercial rights to the Macross series. The way the Macross rights pie is divided up will make it difficult to work out who has the rights to various aspects of the IP outside of Japan. While Harmony Gold won’t comment on any Macross sequels at this time, Tommy Yune does generally say that, “if we can have more Macross and more Robotech everywhere and just let the fans go after what they enjoy we think that would be a wonderful thing.”