advertisement

SCi ends takeover talks

By Tom Magrino, GameSpotPosted Jan 10, 2008 4:43 pm PT

UK-based publisher terminates sell-off talks due to unlikeness to achieve "full value"; Tomb Raider: Underworld confirmed for Q4 2008.

In September, Eidos parent company SCi Entertainment revealed it was entertaining buyout talks from undisclosed parties, and that discussions were in "very preliminary" stages. The ambiguity over SCi's potential purchasers spurred more rampant speculation and erroneous information than hard details, with Ubisoft, Time Warner, Electronic Arts, an unnamed Chinese investment firm, and, most recently, Midway all fingered as potential suitors.

As it turns out, the speculation was for naught; SCi said today that it had ended buyout discussions with all parties involved. "The board no longer believes that a sale of the Company for its full value is likely to be achieved at the current time and has reached the view that it is not in the company's or its shareholders' interests to prolong these discussions further," SCi said in a statement. SCi noted that the discussions had created "commercial and strategic opportunities," which it plans to pursue going forward.

As part of today's announcement, SCi also said it would be delaying four of its upcoming releases to the fourth calendar quarter of 2008. The only game the publisher specifically called out was Eidos' previously trademarked Tomb Raider: Underworld, which is now slated to ship simultaneously on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, Wii, and PC during the "Christmas season."

SCi also noted today that Eidos' tepidly reviewed Kane & Lynch: Dead Men had surpassed 1 million units sold, with management reaffirming interest in turning the property into a franchise. Pony Friends also appears to be doing well, with SCi claiming that the kid-friendly Nintendo DS effort has sold more than 600,000 units since leaving the stable last May.

56 Comments

  • zunit88

    Posted Feb 9, 2008 9:18 am PT

    cant w8 for K&L2....

  • SchoollyB

    Posted Feb 3, 2008 3:19 am PT

    K&L2------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------!!!FCK The SHEEPLE!!!---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------K&L2

  • hama666

    Posted Jan 14, 2008 12:33 am PT

    Bleh, the only British publisher left these days

  • auntbessie

    Posted Jan 13, 2008 1:25 pm PT

    Kane and Lynch was a load of arse, I made a big mistake pre-ordering that, I should have read all the final reviews before placing any order. Got a fraction of what it cost when I sold it on ebay, they can suck my balls if they think I'm buying the sequel

  • kaziechameleon

    Posted Jan 13, 2008 10:27 am PT

    no comment!

  • chromium42

    Posted Jan 13, 2008 5:35 am PT

    "Dryker "Unlikeness", classic. Sorry, I'm not normally one to cite poor grammar, but this one just irks me something awful. Perhaps it's a direct quote. I haven't read the article. Or, perhaps, someone has a distaste for "Unlikelyhood". Further still, perhaps I'm just babbling and the likelyhood of unlikelyhood being a word is slim to none."

    Sorry, can't resist: it's unlikely that unlikelyhood is a word; but I'm fairly sure unlikelihood is one.

  • tyzwain

    Posted Jan 13, 2008 2:46 am PT

    Woo! Pony Friends sequel!

  • Dryker

    Posted Jan 12, 2008 5:13 pm PT

    "Unlikeness", classic. Sorry, I'm not normally one to cite poor grammar, but this one just irks me something awful. Perhaps it's a direct quote. I haven't read the article. Or, perhaps, someone has a distaste for "Unlikelyhood". Further still, perhaps I'm just babbling and the likelyhood of unlikelyhood being a word is slim to none.

  • mashom

    Posted Jan 12, 2008 10:02 am PT

    As always Winner Tomb Rider.

  • pidow

    Posted Jan 12, 2008 8:25 am PT

    I'll wait and see what happens!.

  • danthegamer32

    Posted Jan 12, 2008 6:12 am PT

    Hope Kane and Lynch 2 is as much an improvement as Hitman 2 was over Hitman 1.
    Also, judging by the name, the new Tomb Raider sounds like it will be a darker and more mature game, maybe..

  • LsTr_Of_SmG

    Posted Jan 12, 2008 5:16 am PT

    Tomb Raider Anniversary was a pile o' crap on PC it was glitchy as hell. Nevertheless good on SCi!

    Incidentally before anyone starts moaning at me that I must have a **** spec pc:
    Intel Q6600 2.4Ghz Processor overclocked to 2.8 (could go higher - but don't really want/need to)
    4gb 800Mhz DDR2 RAM
    2x 8800GT in SLI mode (overclocked) Just upgraded from a single 8600GTS (FINALLY!)

  • UltraViolent9AD

    Posted Jan 11, 2008 5:33 pm PT

    I can't wait for K&L2.

  • Fat_Boy_PT

    Posted Jan 11, 2008 2:56 pm PT

    I am happy that K&L sold well. A sequel seems more and more likely. I loved the game and I'm very happy to have bought it. Online is great, loved the characters (Lynch is one crazy mofo) and all the missions. For me it was a 9/10
    Good job for everyone involved.

  • X360-Games-Wiz

    Posted Jan 11, 2008 2:55 pm PT

    yeah Tomb Raider is like a legend game on the pc

  • theKSMM

    Posted Jan 11, 2008 2:23 pm PT

    Wow, lookit all the platforms for Tomb Raider: Underworld. Tomb Raider will be the new Madden NFL in terms of number of ports. I'm a little surprised (and disappointed) that there won't be a PSP version though.

  • minhas32

    Posted Jan 11, 2008 1:10 pm PT

    i like to play tomb raider on my pc.Pc rules

  • Thorpe89 Site moderator

    Posted Jan 11, 2008 10:44 am PT

    fearrich: All Legend was a good starting point for Lara on next-gen consoles (well, current-gen now probably) it was quite a short experience. I played Anniversary which seems to last a bit longer (maybe because some of the levels are not quite as linear and the fact that the puzzles seem tougher) and so I would like it to be better than Anniversary.

  • Humorguy_basic

    Posted Jan 11, 2008 10:35 am PT

    15/16th's of the units sold were on console, so don't worry if you are a PC player. Like all games released on console and PC, console sales totally dominate the numbers as they increase and PC game sales decline.

  • Hvac0120

    Posted Jan 11, 2008 8:22 am PT

    The Kane & Lynch demo was horrible. I feel sorry for those 1 million sad soles. I guess there could be a small following with the game where people actually enjoy it. Oh well, I don't have to worry about it...

Pony Friends Quick Links

Summary | Reviews | News | Previews & Features | Images | Videos | Answers | Hints & Cheats | Forum | Check Prices

Check Prices: $9.5 – 28.74

WolfCamera.com $10.25 SHOP ›
eBay $28.74 SHOP ›
CameraWorld.com $10.25 SHOP ›
advertisement
Pony Friends Boxshot Enlarge the boxshot
Pony Friends

Game Stats

  • Rank:
    1,924 of 77,247
    (up by 2,778)
    DS Rank:
    173 of 3,032
    Tracking:
    38 Track It»
    Wishlists:
    23 Wish It»
  • Player Reviews:
    3
    Player Ratings:
    32
    Users Now Playing:
    6
  • Number of Players:

    1 Player

  • Top 5 User Tags:
    1. eidos
    2. pony
    3. ponies
    4. pony friends
    5. ds
  • Everyone Rating Description

    Titles rated E (Everyone) have content that may be suitable for ages 6 and older. Titles in this category may contain minimal cartoon, fantasy or mild violence and/or infrequent use of mild language. Learn more

Full Game Details »Close

Games you may like…

Users who looked at content for this game also looked at these games.

See More Similar Games
advertisement