>>103520164SEGA didn't give two shits about brand synergy and let every single spinoff do whatever the fuck it wanted without paying mind to how it would impact the future of the franchise.
Now there are a bunch of cool concepts in the franchise that will never be used again, partially because of legal issues, partially because of incompatibility with the core game series, and partially for no good reason at all aside from SEGA now being OVERLY protective of the brand and arbitrarily wanting the IDW comics to be totally segregated from the games.
It would be a mistake to write the game stories under the assumption that the audience actively reads the comics, but having characters from IDW show up in the supporting cast would be totally harmless. Hell, putting someone like Tangle in that racing game would be a non-intrusive way of getting more people to read the comics, therefore making more money for IDW and incentivizing them to continue paying for the license, making it a sound business move as well.
