THE ANGEL OF DARKNESS TO RELEASE FEB
Copyright 2002 www.tombraiderchronicles.com

[ October 22nd 2002 ]

Eidos Plc has confirmed Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Angel Of Darkness will not meet its high-profile November 15 commercial debut on the Sony Playstation II games console and PC CDROM. The London-based publisher has stated the sixth Tomb Raider video-game will be released in February 2003 allowing developers Core Design more time to complete the game.

This announcement follows a week of speculation that resulted in a 17% loss on Eidos' share price at close of trade Friday, although the company bounced back 9% after trading ceased on Monday. Shortly after making the announcement this afternoon, shares were down again by 14.5%. to 84p. Several gaming factions had reported that console giant and Tomb Raider franchise partner Sony Entertainment Corp blocked the release until certain criteria was met.

The delay will be a huge financial blow for Eidos Interactive who had hoped to capitalize on the vital Christmas trading period. However, the company may well recoup some losses after Hitman 2: Silent Assassin - the sequel to the BAFTA award nominated Hitman: Codename 47 - shot straight to the top of the ELSPA charts compiled by ChartTrack, stealing the crown from Nintendo's Super Mario. Early indications suggest that TimeSplitters 2 is also performiing well after making it's debut last week on XBox, GameCube and Sony PS2.

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness is classic Lara as both hunter and hunted relying on her ingenuity, athleticism and a new edge that has arisen from her dark inner demons. The game employs a brand new engine built from the ground up to fully utilise the power of PlayStation 2 and the latest PC graphics cards. The latest Tomb Raider adventure is penned to run for an initial three episodes with a possible spin-off series featuring Lara Croft's new co-star Kurtis Trent.

More details to follow.