By now, I think it’s pretty safe to say Eidos is likely going to be bought out by another company. The initial reports linked both Electronic Arts and Ubisoft to the ailing publisher, but since then two other companies have expressed interest. One of them, Warner Bros., makes perfect sense.
The company already owns part of Eidos (20%), and wouldn’t need to spend too much in order to gain full control. Recently, Eidos also removed restrictions which would prevent Warner from doing that very thing. So if Warner is interested in playing ball, their chances are higher than EA and Ubisoft.
It’s the other newly interested corporation which may raise some eyebrows: Square Enix.
According to MCV, Square is very interested in getting a piece of the pie. (At the very least, IO and the Hitman franchise.) Square’s global president Yoichi Wada has apparently already visited Denmark’s IO studio, and will head over to the UK shortly to try and "move the deal forward."
Square’s desire to increase its Western presence isn’t exactly the industry’s best-kept secret. Wada has been quite outspoken about the state of the Japanese game industry recently, and Square’s new US studio and other announcements have done nothing but solidify their attempts to become a legit presence in the Western sphere of gaming.
But will Square come away with part (or all) of Eidos? Probably not, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t intrigued at what Square would do with the Hitman franchise.
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