Eidos Sees Share Boost, Despite Poor Results

Officials from Eidos Interactive have announced the company’s full year results for the period ended June 30. During this time Britain’s largest independent publisher suffered a £2.9 million ($5.2m) net loss, with sales falling 11.6% to £133.9 million ($238.2m). This poor performance was blamed on weaker than expected sales in the U.S., and the delay of now-released multi-platform action title ShellShock: ‘Nam 67 into the next financial year. Of titles released in the financial year, Hitman: Contracts, although "performing below management's expectations", has sold 1.7 million units to date. Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This At Home, Deus Ex: Invisible War, Championship Manager: Season 03/04 and Legacy of Kain: Defiance each sold between 500,000 and one million units worldwide, although the aforementioned Legacy of Kain: Defiance was also singled out for "not living up to management's sales targets", as were Commandos 3 and Whiplash. However, the announcement that the company’s discussions on a possible sale are progressing well has boosted the share price up 3.3% to £1.10. Nevertheless, no specific indication has been given as to the possible buyer, with Microsoft, Electronic Arts, THQ and UbiSoft all having been linked with the company in the past. Ignoring the question of buyouts, company representatives also revealed some of the company’s future plans with confirmation that nine new titles are planned for release between January and June 2005, including new entries in the Hitman and Tomb Raider franchises. The company also spoke about next generation plans, indicating that Danish developer IO Interactive was already working on Xbox 2 and PlayStation 3 titles, with Core Design, refocused after Eidos-owned Crystal Dynamics inherited the Tomb Raider console franchise, apparently also working on several PlayStation Portable applications.