Releasers of Lara Croft Tomb Raider Axe 25 Percent of Workforce
by Liam Bailey
2008-03-01 19:10:00 **news**
The company now behind the game Lara Croft Tomb Raider: SCi entertainment are axing a quarter of the work-force as the company endures increasing financial set-backs.
Until recently SCi had been a shining light in British computer games development, starting small they had a big hit with Carmageddon. I played their first big hit and I have to say, for being a bit gory for my taste it was bloody good fun -- literally.
The company first jumped onto the radar as a major player when it purchased Eidos, who originally released Tomb Raider. Things were obviously going well at that point, but subsequent expansion attempts did not go well leading up to the current troubles.
Troubles which strangely come on the back of an extremely successful release with the game Kane and Lynch, a shoot-em-up developed by SCi, and starring a medicated psychopath and a Rambo style mercenary. The game sold 1.4million copies around the world over the Christmas period, but SCi bosses said it could perhaps have sold more under better management.
SCi's new Chief Executive said: "It's clear things have to change. We recognise the failure to maximize the franchise opportunities we have had" and announced that the company plans to scrub 14 games currently in the development stages at a write-of cost of £79.6million.
There is talk of a hasty sale, but insiders believe this is not in SCI's best interests, as the company's intellectual property would be going for a fraction of its true value.
The biggest factor in SCi's demise was the failure to recognize the immediate popularity of the next generation of Games Consoles, mainly Playstation 3, but also Nintendo Wii. Their shares took a big tumble after the falling price of Playstsation 2 games forced them to announce a profit warning. Before that the company was on a high, with shares peaking at 635p in October 2005, and Tomb Raider Legend selling far more copies than expected July 2006.
An easy mistake to make I suppose, most new game releases even now are still released on the Playstation 2 as well as Playstation 3, and the new consoles are really expensive to begin with, so you can't blame SCi for thinking more people would stick with PS2 for a while till prices of PS3 dropped a bit. Sony were clever enough to release around Christmas time though and parents today go daft to keep up with the joneses and get their kids the most up to date gadgets.
I have a place in my heart for SCi, as part of my respect for British companies that start small and make it big. I hope the latest batch of drastic changes puts them back where they deserve to be.
