Squeenix to Take Over Eidos Tomorrow

[John Funk]

Squeenix to Take Over Eidos Tomorrow

The Square-Enix takeover of Tomb Raider publisher Eidos has been sanctioned and will go into effect tomorrow morning.

Cloud, meet Lara. Lara, Cloud.

The JRPG giant was first rumored to be interested in the troubled British publisher with 85% of them [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/87864-Square-Enix-Makes-Bid-For-Eidos] voting to proceed.

Today, a court has approved the takeover, Eidos announced:

[blockquote]"The Board of Eidos is pleased to announce that the Court sanctioned the Scheme at the Court Hearing held today and that it also confirmed the associated Capital Reduction at that hearing... As previously announced, the Scheme is expected to become effective on 22 April 2009 following the delivery of the Court Order to the Registrar of Companies and the registration by him of such Court Order."[/blockquote]

Dealings in Eidos shares via the London Stock Exchange have been suspended, and will be officially canceled at 8:00 AM (London time) tomorrow morning.

The acquisition of Eidos is generally seen to be part of an effort by Square-Enix - known for its JRPG franchises like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest (or Dragon Warrior), and Kingdom Hearts - to branch out and establish a stronger base amongst Western gamers. Earlier this year, Square-Enix announced that it would be making its games available on Valve's popular Geometry Wars clone [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/89689-Squeenix-Goes-Steam-Powered].

When all is said and done, this will put franchises like Tomb Raider, Hitman and Deus Ex under the Square-Enix banner - Lara Croft, Agent 47, and JC Denton having luncheon with Square's various androgynous and underage heroes, so to speak.

Well, if the next Tomb Raider features Lara in an outfit made entirely out of leather belts, we'll know who to blame.

(If you imagine the tigers in the image all have gigantic hair and swords, then it's almost like a political cartoon - true story!)

(CVG [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=213499])

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[Doug]

Hope they bring back Anachronox! That was a great game. Anywho, Square better be really to take on losses for a few years, as Eidos never really recovered from completely from Daikatana and the sinking of the 'HMS John Romero'.

 

[AbsoluteVirtue18]

Snoochy boocheys, Square.

I wonder what they plan on doing with it, though.

 

[Doug]

Snoochy boocheys, Square.

I wonder what they plan on doing with it, though.

Put it in the cardboard forget about fedding them until its too late?

 

[AbsoluteVirtue18]

Snoochy boocheys, Square.

I wonder what they plan on doing with it, though.

Put it in the cardboard forget about fedding them until its too late?

Wouldn't surprise me.

 

[CakeDragon]

Now this could be an interesting combo. Personally I can't see Lara Croft engaging random battles and using ATB. Nor Cloud pressing x not to die.
Squeenix always do gorgeous cutscenes though, I hope this shows through in new originally-Eidos games.

 

[Zannthebored]

I did imagine the tigers in the image all had gigantic hair and swords and it was almost like a political cartoon - how devilishly clever!

 

[Baby Tea]

Somehow Laura is going to get very busty...well, bustier then normal.
And she's also going to have a bunch of emo-style soliloquies that have her painfully remembering past loved ones or lovers and how she must overcome them in order to do what is right!

I'm suddenly thinking of the Japanese version of Strong Bad.

'...Correct me if I'm wrong but are you asking for a challenge??'

 

[scotth266]

Hope they bring back Anachronox! That was a great game. Anywho, Square better be really to take on losses for a few years, as Eidos never really recovered from completely from Daikatana and the sinking of the 'HMS John Romero'.

GAAAAH! MY EYES!

But seriously, don't bring that up again, for all our sakes.

To be on topic: This could be good or bad. If Squeenix can get things at Eidos under wraps, perhaps we'll see some good stuff come out of this alliance.

 

[Frank_Sinatra_]

You know I can't really tell if this is a good thing, or a bad thing.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

This actually makes me hopeful for Eidos. Plus, one of the few takeovers where the consumed company isn't going kicking and screaming. They're RELIEVED.

 

[Madshaw]

You know I can't really tell if this is a good thing, or a bad thing.

i can't realy care

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Hitman + RPGs = win?

It could work...Turn-based stealth gaming...it has potential...

 

[Zand88]

What's shit joined with shit?

Meta-shit?

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Hitman + RPGs = win?

It could work...Turn-based stealth gaming...it has potential...

No it doesn't.

Where has it been seen before? No one would have expected Puzzle Quest to be good, either.
Give me a turn-based stealth game that sucked and I'll concede defeat.

 

[RRilef]

Something good could result, or this could be even worse than before. I think Square Enix may just be able to put a fresh spin on it, so long as they don't try to change it too much.