EIDOS MISSES MOVIE OPPORTUNITY
Copyright 2001 www.tombraiderchronicles.com

[ June 15th 2001 ]

Information carrier Yahoo! Inc. reports today that Eidos Interactive, the games publisher that owns the rights to Core Designs Tomb Raider adventure series, will lose millions by electing not to release a Lara Croft episode this year to coincide with the movie release.

The film, "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider", is released on Friday [ today Ed. ] in the US, and comes to the UK next month, but Eidos says it will not release a new Tomb Raider game until next year because of differing production schedules in the gaming and movie businesses. Eidos says it [or rather Core Ed.] is overhauling the game to take advantage of newer, more powerful gaming platforms such as Microsoft's Xbox and Sony's PlayStation2. The only tie-in will be with the film's DVD release in November, which will include information on new Eidos products.

Along with many video-game companies, Eidos has been the victim of a cyclical downturn in the gaming industry, as consumers switch to a newer generation of platforms. The company reported a loss of £97.3m in the year ended 31 March, down from profits of £25.2m for the previous year. The company has received £1m in licensing fees from Paramount for film rights, but industry analysts say the company could have stood to rake in far more from a new game introduced at the right time.

What the article fails to mention is that Core Design, the studio responsible for creating the Lara Croft character, has come under intense criticism in the past for annually shipping out it's Tomb Raider titles to maximise on the Christmas influx of computer software sales, albeit with a persuasive nod from rights owner Eidos Interactive.

Tomb Raider Next Generation is expected to roll-out mid-2002.