SCi cancels 14 games; announces Tomb Raider: Underworld release date and Battlestations: Pacific @ Gaming Target

Written by John Scalzo on February 29, 2008

News: Good news and bad news from Eidos' parent company.

SCi Entertainment, the parent company of Eidos Interactive, has announced "a ruthless cost-cutting campaign" that will see the cancellation of 14 projects and layoffs for 25% of their employees.

The company plans to focus more on their core brands, such as the Tomb Raider series and less on "run-of-the-mill games."

"Our cornerstone franchises, such as Tomb Raider that has already sold 35 million units, have the potential to deliver significant profits and substantial returns on investment, which should not be diluted by more run-of-the-mill games. We must optimise our return on these titles, leverage and position the Group for online and make better use of our innovative strength," said SCi CEO Phil Rogers.

In addition to the project cancellations and layoffs, SCi/Eidos has confirmed that Tomb Raider: Underworld will ship this Christmas.

They have also announced that Battlestations: Pacific will be coming to the Xbox 360 and PC sometime in the near future. The game is said to be twice as large as the first game with both Allied and Japanese campaigns.

Eidos currently has a variety of games in development including Highlander, Deus Ex 3, Just Cause 2, Monster Lab and a port of Death Jr.: Root of Evil for the Wii.

Rumors abound that Eidos is also working on Kane & Lynch 2 and two new Hitman games (one for the PS3/Xbox 360 and one for the Wii). It's unknown which projects Eidos plans to cancel and it's possible that none of these games are on the chopping block, with the company instead choosing to cancel other unannounced titles.

We'll have more soon.