Eidos Updates On Tomb Raider Sales, Targets

Officials from British publisher SCi, the new owners of Eidos Interactive, have announced that worldwide sales of Tomb Raider: Legend has totaled 2.6 million copies – exceeding original expectations for the game. Currently available on the PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360 and PC, the game has reached the number one position in both Europe and North America. A PSP version is to be released this month, with GameCube, Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS versions scheduled for later in the year, along with a range of new Tomb Raider mobile phone titles. As a result of the game’s success SCi officials have announced that the company remains on track to record a profit in the year ending June 30th, despite losses of £12.8 million ($24.0m) recorded in the previous six months. The company also expects the imminent release of Hitman: Blood Money to prove a similar success, and for sales of soccer management game Championship Manager 2006 to continue to remain high. Despite the series as a whole selling more than 30 million copies since its debut in 1996, the Tomb Raider license had been seen to be in relative decline in recent years, particularly with reference to the previous PlayStation 2 and PC only title Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, which was received disappointingly by critics. Following the disappointing sales for the title and the production problems involved in its creation, Eidos dropped original UK developer Core Design for Tomb Raider: Legend. The new game was instead developed by U.S. studio Crystal Dynamics, with input from original series creator Toby Gard, and has been reviewed more positively, with an average 80% rating.