Square Enix recently hastily completed its purchase of UK game publisher Eidos, best known for its early oppai physics experiment Tomb Raider and its cosplay simulator Hitman, spending some £85 million on the company.
The Eidos group filed losses of £100 million in 2008 (due, they say, to restructuring), and as the below graphs show, has experienced plummeting or stagnant sales of its top franchises in recent years, leading some to wonder whether this deal was well advised?
Presumably Square Enix has plans, very good ones we might hope.
Via the prosaically titled PS3 & Xbox 360 Blog.
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Maybe Tomb Raider get a modern graphic engine at last...
i want legacy of kain back
"cosplay simulator Hitman" - Japanese minds are twisted. It was and it still is a grate inovation in game industry, and japanese thinks this is just cosplay? Time to open your minds!!!
You're a fucking idiot.
Read it again.
*facepalm* learn to read..
Hopefully they'll remake Deus Ex. It's been years since I last played it, but I'm convinced that if you took the original game (not invisible wars) and modernized the graphics/physics, you'd have a bestseller. FPS+RPG with skills, inventory, and modifiable weapons... imo only System Shock and Fallout 3 have even approached the fun I had playing Deus Ex the first time.
Worst case scenario: Dirge of Cerberus remake.
Dirge of Croft, you mean?
i think now is the time for japanese game to dominate in western
Never gonna happen - we are too hardcore and they make soft games
if they dont step up to the plate and make games like gears of wars - L4D - Kill Zone etc. they wont make it - they will with rpgs but thats about it
but you can see bioware already starting to cover the rpg market for the west with their far more story driven games
Hmmm. Maybe her D cups will become G cups.
Lara Croft and Agent 47 in Kingdom Hearts. :p
They probably wanted to make Kain and Lynch
I don't know if Legacy of Kain with beltan zipper is going to be as good of an idea as Square does.
Stick to FF Square Enix. Tomb Raider might end up like FF7 DC Vincent's storyline, that games gameplay sucks balls.
Moefications would be it's predicament...
They should also buy the Mirror's Edge franchise...
wwwww
lara croft about to get anime-ized. this should get interesting.
I want a Lara Croft and Aya Brea cross over game.
LOL. Dream on.
We all know what this means, Lara Croft will make a cameo appearance in Kingdom Hearts 4....
Only liked TR:1
.... only if I could get a freaking...
Remake of all the games within a single game all with current gen graphics, will I even think about spending another dime on this franchise.
Its not even worth renting now, since corporations put their shit stains on it.
So, consider me racist or whatever you will, but why all the assumptions that Lara will be flat? In my honest opinion of the Japanese people (and Square) I truly believe she will be given huge tits. They will then try to get her as naked as possible without making their game rated M or 18+ and milk out all the money from Eidos as they can until people get bored of the ecchi.
As for Hitman... Well get ready for a busty female partner, character, and/or turn based strategy/stealth game.
Yes. I also found it weird that others on the board would think that Lara would be given DFC. All this time, I'd gotten the idea that the Japanese assumed real non-Asian women were giant pairs of walking boobs.
The upside of this might be that the developers won't be so uptight abou the whole "Nude Raider" thing, anymore.
Well that would be epic. If the graphics of FFXIII is anything to go by, Tomb Raider is just going to get a whole lot better with that jaw-dropping Lara Croft.... The gameplay and story line will get sorted out one way or another, its not like its that hard to do anyway. Tomb Raider has been nothing more than a fan serviced based adventure/shooting game. =P
OTOH though, Hitman could be in trouble....
Yes. All we need is materia mixing to let Lara leap around even more rediculously than before.
need lara in maid outfit
mizugi is fine too
Wow. There are so many contradictions here, I'm having trouble imagining the ramifications of this.
Also, I find it hilariously (sad) that Anniversary sold fewer than Angel of Darkness.
Don't forget that Angel of Darkness was bundled with alot of Video Game cards due to it being an *advanced* Direct X 9 game. It even had a Benchmark in it.
Kingdom Hearts with Lara Croft and Agent 47 in it. :p
Thats What i was thinking XD
maybe square just wants a team for non-rpg type releases
Eidos has had a relationship with Square(soft) ever since FF7 or so. This isn't really surprising to me.
But as insiders pointed out, they expected a merger, not a total buyout.
This is the key point. The merger proposal comes as the global recession worsens. Eidos isn't selling their company. It is more of a mean to cut operating costs and to share intrastructures. This happened before with Squaresoft and Enix. What is unique in this deal is that SE is more considered as a Japanese company(even though they have huge presence in US) and Eidos is a Western company. While they might have some say in the content being published by the other company, I won't expect any crossover titles.
ahahah "oppai physics experiment" and "cosplay simulator". oh, this made my day a bit brighter.
For Anonymous:
Sigo en México, lo que pasa es que hay una cosa llamada Internet que me permite entrar a la pagina web que se me de la gana, WEY!
NO HABLO, GODDAMMIT.
Goddamn Carlos, how the fuck would he like it if I join the Mexican Marines and all they spoke English?
Ficamos felizes em saber isso. Agora, volta para a tua terra!
I lol'ed so much
fucking owned
Will Lara Croft become Lara Strife?
Tifa would like to have a word with you
0.o well that was unexpected
It'll be Lara Croft, but turn based and prettier.
They will copy this: http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2009/04/22/the-king-of-fighters-sky-stage-puzzles-fans/
Lara Craft Tohou Shooter anyone?
i bought it from ps3 store, and lara croft its awesome, probably the most fun game in the series.
We need a Eidos-Square Lara Croft comparison image. The new Lara will doubtless have even smaller breasts...
hmm... loli-lara: the early years. i think i might be on to something here.
Hmmm...DFC Lara? o_O
oh hell yes xD
And an absolutely retarded yet somehow modest outfit
Hurrr... i honestly can't think about anything of it.
Square Enix did not have very good plans for its latest games...
Sorry to dissagre, but last game i bought of downloadable content from tombraider coop mode, its probably the most fun game i had played from tombraider, and looking foward to deus, its about time square enix started to do playable games.
If they continue with final fantasy series, they will fall down to their own grave of fandom.
Expect moe Lara Croft and androgynous Agent 47. Course, maybe someone will actually buy those games now.
Don't forget Agent 47's brand spankin new Bigass Sword.
totally sold.
Wow this was out of nowhere. I guess Square needs a more broader library for the western market.
Not really. If you had been reading any gaming mag, the buyout was planned since last year when many studios are getting merged/closed due to worldwide recession. PC Gamer UK apparently leaked the info through The Spy section as early as October
it doesn't take a genius to figure out that eidos was in the crapper. i knew they were on their last leg when the kane and lynch game came out. i pretty much got angry at the games flawed mechanics and it clicked that every game i've ever played by eidos felt "amateur." the only real shocker is that it was square to buy them out. i expected maybe rockstar games to do it. but either way i'm glad eidos is no more.
Yes, about the only unexpected thing is that they decided to bring it forward a number of weeks...
No, they simply moved forward with the last stage once the UK courts finished their approval this week.
Y con esto, inicia el fin del mundo como lo conocemos. Ya hablando en serio, no me gusta mucho la idea de que Squere Enix aya comprado Eidos, ¿Vamos a ver una mediocre version J-RPG de Tomb Raider? ¿Van a aumentar (aun mas) los senos de Lara?
bahasa apakah ini dan mengapakah sesat di sini?
Apa ke jadahnya citer panjang2 nih?
Okay, back on topic guys....
Apa ko mengarut ni setan?!!
Anyways, english plox :3
malay mati aje lo
Sorry, what i was saying is, i hope they don't ruin the franchise
bahsa baku nk mampos.. XD
lol, english please. we have an international community here.
That’s quite a daring move Square Enix made. With the decline in number of sales and during recession and all. I hope they have some plans in mind..
uuh...sorry Carlos, Mexico is that way.
lol, no har-blar espan yoel.
Me conformo con que no arruinen la franquisia
Eidos screws up many games. For example Championship Manager turns out to be crap after they parted ways with Sports Interactive and took the game name for themselves. Thankfully SI got Sega for distribution and created Football Manager (that's Worldwide Soccer Manager for you Americans) and that topped the game charts for most european countries.
Ironic really. They decide to ditch a fan based football management sim that was based on really simple java with just circles representing players with a full 3D engine and failed badly. They must be kicking themselves for that mistake.
Read more
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_Interactive
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_manager
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Championship_Manager
Y con esto, sera el fin del mundo como lo conocemos. Ya hablando en serio, no me gusta mucho la idea de que Eidos aya sido comprada por Square Enix, ¿Vamos a ver un Tomb Raider J-RPG?
Hastily? There was nothing hasty about this sale. They had to be approved through three different courts for goodness sake.
bahsa baku nk mampos.. XD
lol, english please. we have an international community here.
That's quite a daring move Square Enix made. With the decline in number of sales and during recession and all. I hope they have some plans in mind..
sorry, wrong place. I meant to reply a post above :P
This was on Gamespot =P
Plus it's been a WHILE since Square Enix bought Eidos.
Do you have a point or are you just a compulsive typer?
She looks like Tifa in that picture
Maybe we will have Final Fantasy Commandos 4.
Tomb raider and all eidos games past 1996 sucked. They aren't for the new gen. I think square wasted monies.
Oh I love the pic of Lara here. Instant wallpaper mmm.. Lara...
lol, her thigs and byceps are so wrong...
I doubt any spy games Square Enix make will be any good... Even their Final Fantasy franchise has been going down hill for quite a few years now.
amen to that.. FF IX is the last good one..
Congrats Squenix!
now get to work on Fear Effect 3
Please SQENIX Make Fear Effect 3
In the next installment of Tomb Raiders, Lara will be a classic Square Enix androgyne.
It'd be awesome if Square could breath some life into the dying Hitman franchise.
should have given hitman to Ubisoft. they could have brought it to life like they did the ONLY assassin game that is worth a fuck. assassin's creed. theif doesn't count, lol, but it is badass too.
Eidos has been dead to me since they sank the LEGACY OF KAIN series.
For all my weaboo JRPG love, Legacy of Kain was a fucking work of art in terms of plot, characterization, and voice acting and they weren't bad in terms of gameplay either.
Eidos can fuck itself.
Eidos has been dead for me since Tomb Raider 3. They dug their own grave really.
Screw you guys. Deus Ex rox0red my sox0rz.
Like people have stated, this is an attempt by SE to have a larger impact on the western market. JRPG's can only get you so far.
As for my view, hopefully this will result in more time and care taken into reenvisioning the likes of Tomb Raider and Hitman rather than milking them on a yearly basis, which is what has taken place over the last few years...
Not like SE itself was ever milking it's own franchises on a yearly basis...*coughcough*
Anyway, how the acquisition works in terms of actually passing down management decisions by SE to their newly acquired dev. studios (if at all) etc. remains to be seen.
Damn... will Lara now have smaller breasts, more of an Asian physique and large EYES?
Or maybe if there's Deus Ex 3, we'll get funky stompy robots ala Gundam?
Or maybe you'll end up with Hitman having to cosplay in order to asssassinate targets? In Japan?
Either way, not much of a point for me.
Heck... for all i know, they'll make Lara Croft turn-based and RPG-ized.
oh yes, Agent 47 dressing up like a french maid.. with hairy legs.. and the guards don't notice a thing.. Sounds like a HIT!
Championship Manager... Anime style!