Ian Livingstone to keynote GC Asia Conference

Ian Livingstone will be a keynote speaker at this year’s GC Asia Conference (GCAC). In his keynote entitled, “The Life of Lara Croft,” Livingstone will give a brief history of video games and use Lara Croft as a case study to demonstrate the value of creating original Intellectual Property. His keynote will also explore how to leverage games through licensing and merchandising to produce additional revenues and brand value.

Ian Livingstone is one of the founding fathers of UK interactive entertainment and fiction. He is the founder of Games Workshop, and together with Steve Jackson, launched Dungeons & Dragons in Europe and the Games Workshop retail chain. Livingstone has written a number of interactive game books including Deathtrap Dungeon. At EIDOS, he helped to secure many of the company’s major franchises including Tomb Raider and Hitman.

GCA and GCAC take place September 17-20, 2009, in Singapore at the Suntec International Convention & Exhibition Centre Singapore. For more information on the conference visit www.gc-asia.sg.

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Square Enix and Eidos Come to Buyout Terms

If you’ve been following the Square Enix buyout of Eidos like we have, you know that one of the terms put forth by Eidos shareholders has been that Square Enix had to submit a business plan for the purchase within 28 days from the initial offer back on February 12th. Today, both companies announced that Square Enix had not only submitted the plan well before the imposed deadline, but that the Eidos board of directors is supporting the arrangement, and recommending it to shareholders. With the plan of action submitted and now approved by the Eidos board, there doesn’t seem to be anything in place to stop the deal from going down.

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Square Enix Buyout of Eidos Gets More Backing

Just a couple of days removed from news that Warner Bros. was backing the buyout of Eidos by Square Enix, news is coming out that yet another major Eidos investor has agreed to back the proposed deal. According to statements released by both Square Enix and Eidos this morning, the companies have reached an agreement with Pioneer Investment Management Ltd., which currently controls just over 10 percent of Eidos, to back the buyout proposal for the Tomb Raider publisher. This brings the total backing for the proposed to more than 45 percent, over half of the 75 percent required for the deal to go through.

The agreement reached with Pioneer has a few conditions attached, similar to the agreement reached with Warner Bros. As with Warner, Pioneer has the right to back out of the deal if a formal business plan is not posted within 28 days, and Pioneer can also back out if a higher offer for Eidos is tendered by a third party. Unlike the agreement with Warner, though, any new offer for Eidos has to exceed the Square Enix offer by at least 15 percent for Pioneer to exercise its right to step away from the deal.

With 45 percent of Eidos shares now accounted for, Square Enix still needs to secure the support of another 30 percent of shares in the publisher before heading into an investor vote on the deal, currently scheduled for the end of next month. If all goes well for Square Enix, though, it might not be too much longer before the home of Final Fantasy has to add a few new rooms for an archaeologist, a hitman, a few more members of the Eidos extended family. The first time I see Agent 47 line up Cloud Strife in the crosshairs of a sniper scope, though, I think it’ll be safe to say the deal has been done.

Square Enix Gets Warner Thumbs Up for Eidos Buyout

One of the big surprises during last week’s gaming news was that underdog Square Enix actually ended up being the front runner to acquire struggling publisher Eidos. One of the big lingering questions was, what did former prime suspect and current 20 percent stockholder Warner Bros. think about the deal? Today, we got our answer: “Why not?”

According to statements released today, Eidos and Square Enix both claim that they have “obtained irrevocable undertaking” from Warner in support of Square’s proposed buyout. With Warner’s 20 percent stake accounted for, that makes a total of roughly 36 percent of shares in the company backing the deal, just under half of the 75 percent needed for the deal to move forward.

While the thumbs up from Warner is good news for Square Enix, that doesn’t mean Warner has taken itself out of the running completely. As a condition of the backing agreement, Warner has the right to withdraw its backing of the deal if Square Enix doesn’t formally present its business plan for Eidos within 28 days, or if another party (including any subsidiary of Warner) tenders a higher offer for Eidos. Of course, with Square Enix offering more than 250 percent of the stock price at the time the offer was made, it might be an offer hard for another company to top.

Eidos Board Recommends Square Enix Deal

Could this be a big score for the underdog? Over the past few months, the fate of Tomb Raider publisher, Eidos, has been up in the air, with bigger publishers circling overhead just waiting for an opportunity to swoop in for the kill. Rumors were that everyone Electronic Arts to Ubisoft was eyeing the troubled studio for a potential takeover. There were even rumors that Square Enix, of all places, was looking to pick up Eidos. The odds on favorite, though, had to be Warner Bros., who already owned a 20 percent stake in the company, and who also had recently picked up the exclusive film rights to Eidos properties, including Tomb Raider. Warner was also coming into a substantial amount of available cash, which would have made a very tempting proposition for both Warner and Eidos stockholders. And with official word last month confirming that Eidos was indeed in buyout talks with another company, a Warner purchase was all but a sure thing, right? Think again.

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Warner Bros. Prepping Tomb Raider Theatrical Reboot

Here’s a little more fuel to add to the Warner buyout of Eidos rumors, as if you really needed any. The scuttlebutt out of Hollywood this week is that Warner Bros. Pictures and producer Dan Lin are in the early stages of developing a third Tomb Raider motion picture. Apparently, the new movie will scrap ties to the previous two movies and reboot the franchise, similar to what Marvel did with its Hulk movies.

Both of the previous movies were produced at Paramount, however the rights to the franchise have since reverted back to Eidos. When Warner bumped up its stake in Eidos late last year, it made sure to include the film rights to Ms. Croft as a part of the deal. Lin, currently wrapping up production on the upcoming Sherlock Holes flick with guy Ritchie and Robert Downey, Jr., will produce the project with Stephen Gilchrist, while Ian Livingstone of Eidos will take on the role of executive producer.

So far, there have been no indications as to who will write or direct Lara’s latest theatrical adventures. Even more interesting is the rumor that Angelina Jolie will not be reprising her role as the most famous archeologist NOT wearing a fedora. Of course, casting is still a ways off and it’s entirely possible that Jolie could lace up the hiking boots and strap on the dual holsters one more time, but with the studio looking to do a complete reboot of things, the odds seem against it.

Considering Warner now has a more vested interest than ever in the success of the Tomb Raider franchise, it’s hard not to imagine the company getting more involved in the development of the video game series. Of course, one surefire way to do that is to, well, finish buying out the studio currently handling Lara’s … “assets”.

Eidos Ripe for Warner Takeover?

It’s no secret these days that video game publisher Eidos is struggling. We’ve already reported on potential buyout talks more than once. Recently, we even reported that Warner Bros. had taken the opportunity to bulk up on its stake in the troubled publisher, increasing its Eidos holdings to a total of about 20 percent. Now, it’s beginning to look more and more like Warner could be positioning itself to take a more active role in the day to day operations at Eidos.

The first sign pointing to a potential Warner takeover of Eidos is actually built on a foundation made of LEGO. Back in 2007, Warner first set things in motion to acquire Traveller’s Tales, the developer behind the hit LEGO Indiana Jones and LEGO Batman games. Earlier this week, while addressing investors at a conference in Arizona, Warner’s Chief Financial Officer John Martin called the acquisition “wildly successful”.

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