Surprise surprise, SCi Entertainment (the owners of Tomb Raider and parent company of Eidos) is reportedly in the middle of buyout talks once again. A frequent member of the “Inside sources tell us that…” club, this time it appears that the rumored talks may hold some actual merit, even if it is published in The Daily Mail. Why? In the past year, SCi’s value has dropped from £600 million to a mere £50 million. I’m no mathematician, but that’s a pretty steep decline in a year’s time, and the perfect economic issue which would lead to a buyout in the first place.
Supposedly, there are two companies interested in purchasing SCi and Eidos: Electronic Arts and Ubisoft. EA comes as no surprise; they’ve shown interest in buying Eidos plenty of times over the years. Ubisoft is new to the SCi scene, and according to an unknown source cited in the UK’s Mail Online they’re primarily interested in the rights to blockbuster series like Tomb Raider and Hitman.
So far, none of the three companies' corporate offices have responded to emails or phone calls outside of the usual “No comment at this time.” It is worth noting, though, that one of my sources at Eidos told me that they’re just as anxious to hear how this plays out as the rest of us are, which means one of two things: the talks are real, and the upper management and owners haven't shared with the regular employees yet, or the talks are fake, and those in charge haven't put the rumors to rest for the people who work for them. Since I can't find any reason why higher-ups wouldn't tell SCi's employees "Nope, that's not real," that leads me to believe that something is going on over in merry ol' England. Just like Eidos, it seems like we'll have to wait patiently to find out what that something is.
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