Eidos Records £2 Million Loss, But Buy-Out Attempt is "Progressing Well"

Eidos has today reported financial losses nearing £2 million, for the year ending July 30th. To some extent, this has been bad luck: at a different time of year Hitman Contracts and Thief Deadly Shadows could potentially have generated much more profit then they did. But even now, the picture doesn’t look quite as bleak as might be envisaged. With Shellshock sitting pretty at number 2 in this week’s chart, these recent figures belie Eidos’ reasonably strong status in the industry.

Indeed, the official statement accompanying this financial update seems perfectly reasonable, “While the results for the year are disappointing, the company’s underlying business and product portfolio remains strong.” It’s difficult to argue with that: Eidos has recently announced that it will reveal the new look Lara Croft in Tomb Raider 7 at some point this autumn, and that is sure to receive an enormous level of benign coverage in the mainstream press. Similarly, Championship Manager ought to help fill the coffers, whilst Eidos’ newly received Lego license should also provide a steady stream of revenue.

Core design and IO Interactive are apparently also beavering away, with numerous PSP projects and mysterious next-generation developments respectively: lending Eidos an air of optimistic efficiency whilst its financial statements are looking a little sickly. However, even if Eidos was to make a full bounce back into the black next year, it’s not likely that it will do so as the same Eidos we know at the moment. The company is still at the centre of an acquisition attempt: most likely predated by Electonic Arts or Ubisoft.

The official statement on an Eidos buy-out is that, “Discussions, which relate to a possible sale of the company, are progressing well, although there can be no certainty at this stage as to whether or not they will lead to an offer being made.” It would be reasonable to expect that some sort of offer will be made. Eidos’ bank balance is in the red, and it has a variety of potentially profitable projects in production: none of the resourceful publishers who could make this purchase could deny that it’s an extremely tempting prospect.