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SCi reveals lower revs, new Hitman, Tomb Raider

Eidos parent SCi touts sequels during downbeat earnings report, says PS3 price cut needed.

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With Tomb Raider enjoying a high-profile rebirth just last year and Hitman receiving a feature-film adaptation in November, it would seem foolish to pack those franchises away in the mothballs now. Little surprise, then, that Eidos parent company SCi Entertainment confirmed in its fiscal year-end results today that it has sequels in the works for both brands, as well as for other recent hits.

"We are looking forward with much anticipation to the sequels to Just Cause and Battlestations: Midway, which are already in development, and new versions of world-leading franchises Tomb Raider and Hitman," chief executive Jane Cavanagh said in SCi's year-end report.

That was the good news from the company's fiscal-year recap. The bad news was that the company posted lower revenues than it had the year before, and £30 million ($60.8 million) in losses before tax. For the prior year, SCi managed to turn a profit of £8.1 million ($16.4 million).

Steep price cuts on PlayStation 2 games were cited as part of the reason for the declining revenues, as the publisher had to allocate £14.5 million ($29.4 million) for price protection charges to offset those drops. That wasn't the only Sony-related headache for the publisher, as it also expressed concern over the near-term prospects of the PlayStation 3.

"The Board continues to believe in the long-term commercial success of PlayStation 3 but believes this may take more time than originally forecast by Sony," SCi chairman Tim Ryan said in the report. "The Board is of the opinion that the key driver to the acceleration of the installed base of PlayStation 3 will be a further hardware price cut."

As for the recent rumblings that SCi could be acquired, the company's only update was an acknowledgment that it has entered ongoing discussions with a number of possible acquiring companies.

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