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SCi ends takeover talks

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.

Tom Magrino
By Tom Magrino

Tom Magrino has covered the games industry since 2006. He's been compared to Steve Martin by Ozzy Osbourne and Daniel Craig by Tim Schafer. His voice, heard largely on GameSpot's podcast, recalls that of Kermit the Frog. It ain't easy bein' Magreen.

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SchoollyB 5 pts

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

hama666 14 pts

Bleh, the only British publisher left these days :(

auntbessie 7 pts

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

chromium42 5 pts

"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.

Dryker 5 pts

"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.

pidow 11 pts

I'll wait and see what happens!.

danthegamer32 5 pts

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 5 pts

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!)

Fat_Boy_PT 5 pts

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 5 pts

yeah Tomb Raider is like a legend game on the pc

theKSMM 34 pts

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 5 pts

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

Thorpe89 5 pts

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 6 pts

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 23 pts

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...

Darreo 5 pts

Kane & Lynch should definitely become a franchise. I don?t give a dam what people said about who ever got fired over what and blah blah controversy. The game and its sales speak volumes. I want expansion of the original more DLC from live and maybe in a while a part 2. I love Legend great game kind of short for my taste but i still loved it. Anniversary is super great and I hope Edios continues in this vein of games and traditions.

Alfredozero 5 pts

hell yeah! Eidos won't be merging with midway, That's good news, I'm excited for the new tomb raider but I want release date of Hitman 5! and a new Legacy of Kain sequel

mattcake 28 pts

Same here, loved Legend and am [as slow as I can] working my way thru Anniversary now. The only thing I hope they improve is the damn framerate which really bogs down abysmally at times for no apparent reason. Lara skipping around in 60fps would be lovely, if not a steady 30 would be great :D Am I the only one who thought the mansion level in Legend was better than the main levels? No weak gunplay, just puzzles :)

clintm 5 pts

i'm soooo waiting for this Tomb Raider, it seems very promissing and all, but they shouldn't release it on the ps2, psp, ds!!! they're history now! they should invest that money on a better experience for this gen systems (i'm fed up calling the ps3, 360 and wii next-gen, that is sooo yesterday!) rather then of what they are doing!! afterall i'm buying a ps3 when tomb raider/final fantasy xiii will finally be released :D

VercettiTommyy 12 pts

Hope it will be good...Legend was great & Anniversary was even better.

fearrich 5 pts

If underworld is half as good as legend was, then I'm sold.

HimHvoHitman 5 pts

K&L sold good because of it's boxart. IOI didn't really pull it off with K&L though I see huge potential with a sequel.

playmemike01 5 pts

i thot the new tomb raider was next gen only, disappointment, bigtime.

DrJekyll08 5 pts

What ... they're making a PS2 & Wii version of TRU ??? That's just so typically Eidos ... milking the cow as much as possible !!! I'm sorry but TRU should be Next-Gen exclusive !!!

Strike_Zer0 5 pts

Looking forward to Tomb Raider: Underworld! And I'm sure we're all glad to hear the good news about one of last years most controversial titles yet it still managed to sell well despite mixed review scores and the scandal it caused, I am of course talking about the brilliant Pony Friends

onuruca 5 pts

i'm very happy that k&l sold more than 1million. can't wait Kane&lynch 2!

DonutTrooper 5 pts

In my opinion I see SO much potential in the online gameplay whenever I boot Kane & Lynch. If they made a sequel which had the online mode the spotlight, I could pull so many all nighters on that one!

IIBlackknightII 6 pts

Another tomb raider game.i think it won't do much in sales.

pandaramaster 5 pts

Wow, one million units of Kane And Lynch. But that's the trouble with IO Interactive. They have this new cool idea for a game and their first game in the potential series is always dire. Don't believe me? Well, the first Hitman wasn't that amazing. Cool concept, but playing it was a nightmare, but all was forgiven in Hitman 2. So hopefully, the inevitable sequel will be better.

werc96 5 pts

I was excited for kane & lynch. When i saw the trailer i was like wow....When this comes out its going to blow some games outta the park. From the creators of hitman?? Pshhh im all for it dude. Then...My wifes brother bought it...And i played it. ..Im still playing it... (i want a few free achievements) But ummm.....U have thee absolute worst a.i. possible in this game. Im all for the F word. But ummm...Im beggining to think it should of been called Kane & Lynched: Totally F**ed. All that aside. Major dissapointment, Repetitive gameplay, And it costs someones job over here at gamespot. (They will deny, but they are obviously lying) All i can say is...how the hell has Nights not sold more than this? Meh. Part 2....here we friggin go.

gin_rummy89 5 pts

I'm surprised Kane & Lynch did so well, I played the demo and was like meh

Mattyrock 9 pts

Omg, Kane & Lynch sold over a million copies, I actually ain't suprised by this but a little disappointed since it was such a huge letdown after all of those months in development.

azizrulez 5 pts

i cant believe Kane and Lynch sold a million copies,this finally proves that any type of publicity is good enough,but i really hope the sequel they're thinking about is either scrapped or is built from the ground up and play tested extensively

im-a-roustabout 6 pts

The truth is somebody did get bought out today........it was me.

Krazy-K 5 pts

I glad there is no merger in the works. Anyways, I'm glad to hear that Tomb Raider: Underworld is coming out Q4 2008!!!

RaiKageRyu 14 pts

It just means that no one was willing to pay the over expensive price they place on themselves

fastpunk 5 pts

Great! I can't wait for Underworld!

sharp_angus 5 pts

Who cares about Tomb Raider, the important question here is if they're gonna gonna bring out Carmageddon 4...

Ryo_Kensen 5 pts

I guess it's not so bad that they didn't get bought out. Shows they're strong against some companies, especially since they were in talks with EA.

jeivindr 5 pts

Yes!!! Tomb Raider for the PS2!!!

Holopaw 5 pts

I hope Tomb Raider turns out cool, it would be a shame to see it suck.

Bgrngod 9 pts

READ: "It turns out we suck. We thought we could cash out and run, but evidentally everyone else knows we suck too. Now we are just going to quietly go bankrupt."

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