SCi Expects Revenue Increase Of 40 Percent

Officials from British publisher SCi, owner of Eidos Interactive, have issued a trading update for the company, predicting a 40 percent rise in revenues for the first six months of the company’s fiscal year. Revenues in the six months to December 31st, 2006 are expected to exceed £70 million ($138.2 mil), compared to £50.1 million ($99 mil) at the same time the previous year - with no specific profit amount being predicted. Continued sales of Lego Star Wars (the sequel being published by Activision, on behalf of LucasArts in the UK) and Justice League Heroes (distributed for Warner Interactive in the UK) were named as the most significant contributors to the increase in revenues. A third of revenues came from distribution of third party titles, with Lego Star Wars now having sold over 5.4 million units and Justice League Heroes over one million. New product releases accounted for approximately 50 percent of revenues for the period, with the most successful being Just Cause, with over one million units sold over the financial year. As a result the company already has a sequel in development. Mention was also made of the recent investment deal with Time Warner, which allows SCi access to properties including Batman, Looney Tunes and the Hanna Barbera catalogue – as well as seeing Warner Bros. distribute Eidos titles in North America. The company intends to invest part of the proceeds from the share subscription to build new development capacity in locations such as Canada and China. Other new products announced for the second half of the financial year will include the previously revealed Battlestations: Midway in February, Tomb Raider: Anniversary in April and the company’s first Wii title in the form of Bionicle Heroes. Further new games include new versions of Tomb Raider, Hitman and Championship Manager, plus new intellectual properties including Kane & Lynch, Crossfire and Funcom’s massively multiplayer online title Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. The company’s other second half releases include a number of mobile phone titles aimed at the casual and family market, including Pony Friends, Zendoku, Diner Dash, Prism: Light the Way, Ora: Use Your Emotion and PC versions of six classic casual games including Luxor: Amun Rising, Jewel Quest and Cubis 2.