SCi Confirms Kane & Lynch, Crossfire For PS3

Officials from British publisher SCi, owner of Eidos Interactive, have announced that the company's new intellectual properties Kane & Lynch and Crossfire, previously announced for the Xbox 360 and PC, will both be released simultaneously for the PlayStation 3 as well. Both titles were originally expected to debut for the Xbox 360 and PC exclusively during SCi's 2007 fiscal year, however the company has released a statement indicating that it has undertaken the “commercial decision to release these products simultaneously on all three platforms during its 2008 financial year.” The group believes that “the installed base of PlayStation 3 will reach critical mass in the Group's 2008 financial year.” Kane & Lynch is in development by IO Interactive (Hitman) and expected to ship sometime before Christmas 2007, while Crossfire is being handled by Pivotal Games (Conflict series), and will launch in early 2008. SCi's decision is expected to impact the company's current and next financial years, with EBITDA for the year ended in June to decline by £6 million ($12 million). However, SCi has raised its expected profit for the 2008 financial year by approximately £10 million ($20 million). According to SCi, the decision to release the games during the company's 2008 financial year will “enhance the overall strength and long term revenue potential of these important franchises.” SCi representatives note that the PS3 versions are “currently in advanced stages of development,” and that the simultaneous releases “will enable the Group to achieve high profile launches” for these new properties, as well as take full advantage of each title's respective marketing efforts. Also included in SCi's official statement was confirmation that the company is engaged in “advanced negotiations” concerning the feature film rights to its Kane & Lynch property as well. This follows the recent confirmation that the company's long running Hitman franchise is being made into a motion picture at Fox.