Crispy Gamer News

The end of the year looks like it’ll be a busy time for the video game industry. First, word comes down that Sumner Redstone had a fire sale with his Midway stock, and now the UK-based Daily Mail is reporting that SCi, owner of Tomb Raider publisher Eidos Interactive, is currently in takeover talks after a year which has seen the company’s stock plummet more than 90 percent below its asking price this time last year.

According to the article, a source “familiar with the matter” said the takeover talks are in their early stages and that SCi has been approached by two separate firms within the past few weeks. While the two potential suitors weren’t called by name, the Daily Mail suggests that Electronic Arts and Ubisoft are the two sharks circling the waters around the sinking SCI ship. Of course, we can’t forget that Warner Bros. Interactive already owns a piece of SCi, and was recently cleared to purchase more stock in the ailing company.

If the two offers on the table are in fact from EA and Ubi, it makes this news all the more interesting, as EA already owns a minority stake in Ubisoft, meaning that EA could very well be bidding against itself for SCi. For its part, SCi is keeping quiet about everything, refusing to comment on the current financial dealings.

Could the folks at Warner Bros. soon have Lara Croft as their exclusive spokesperson?

Last week, rumors started to circulate that Warner Bros. was looking to acquire a controlling interest in SCi Entertainment, which owns Tomb Raider publisher Eidos. The rumors began when Warner, who already had a minority stake in SCi, bulked up on its SCi stock, increasing its ownership in the company to about 16 percent.
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As part of its “Preliminary Announcement of Results for the 12 months to June 30, 2008″ SCi revealed that it plans to rebrand itself as Eidos Interactive, the company’s wholly owned subsidiary. In the section of that document full of doom and gloom entitled “A consistent identity,” SCi’s management said that it is “focusing on cornerstone franchises, which are predominantly associated with the Eidos brand.” Since Eidos is the key focus and real money maker of the company it apparently makes sense to change the name to Eidos plc. Read the entire statement after the jump:

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According to a reveal of the upcoming Game Informer Magazine (hitting stands August 18) cover, Eidos and developer Rocksteady Studios are working on a Batman game unrelated to the Batman Dark Knight film. The game, which is called Batman: Arkham Asylum, features a storyline revolving around the institution that houses Gotham’s most diabolical criminals.

The story begins when The Joker manages to escape Arkham after a simple prison transfer goes terribly awry.. The story will be co-written by Paul Dini, a veteran comic writer and who credits include work on Batman: The Animated Series.

The million dollar question is why Eidos? Well, Warner Bros. has made an investment in SCi Entertainment, parent company of Eidos, so giving them this wonderful license is a good way to get a return on that investment. Of course, Eidos hasn’t had the best track record in the last couple of years, but that’s another story. We wish them all the luck in the world with this one..

Source: Game Informer

Less than a week after it was reported that SCi Entertainment, parent company of Tomb Raider publisher Eidos, was under pressure from shareholders to force a restructuring of the executives in charge, the word has come down that CEO Jane Cavanagh, Managing Director of Publishing (and Cavanagh’’s husband) Bill Ennis and Managing Director of Studios Rob Murphy have all stepped down from their respective positions and left the company.

According to the statement sent to investors yesterday, Chief Financial Officer Phil Rogers, who joined SCi in March 2007, has been appointed as the new CEO with immediate effect. Malcolm Dunne will take over Rogers” position as interim CFO while the company looks internally and externally to fill the position permanently.

Regarding the changes, SCi Chairman Tim Ryan stated, In Phil Rogers, SCi has a high-quality industry professional, whose past experience will be enormously valuable to the future of the business. Led by Phil, the Board has already commenced a root and branch review of the Company’’s strategy and will report back to shareholders on our findings and recommendations within our clear timetable.

Could Lara Croft soon have a new boss? If a report yesterday in UK newspaper The Sunday Times is to be believed, the prospect seems likely. According to the article, it appears that shareholders in SCi, parent company of Tomb Raider publisher Eidos Interactive, are unhappy with how CEO and founder Jane Cavanagh have been running things recently. Other execs, including Cavanagh’’s husband and SCi commercial director, Bill Ennis, and the Board chairman, Tim Ryan, are feeling the heat from investors.

The Times article cites an apparent meeting on Friday between the company’s corporate brokers at Citigroup and the Board of Directors in which investors stated they wanted the management out. Citing sources close to the company, the Times says that Phil Rogers, the company’’s finance director, is being tailored to take over as temporary chief executive until a replacement is found.

The news comes hot on the heels of last week’’s word that SCi was no longer in takeover talks, and that the company was in a financial crunch. All of this in addition to the word that many of the company’’s biggest titles, including the newest entry in the Tomb Raider franchise, have had their releases pushed back until Christmas of this year.

SCi is feeling mighty low, after what is being categorized as the worst drop in stock prices in 18 years befell the company on the London Stock Exchange, following yesterday’’s announcement that it has ended all takeover talks and expects to post a loss in fiscal year 2008. The company’s share price fell by 61 percent to ?0.52 ($1.02), subsequently rising only to ?0.675 ($1.32), according to a Gamasutra report. The operating loss for FY 2008 is being pinned on major titles being delayed — most notably Tomb Raider Underworld, which has been pushed from June of this year to Christmas.