Square Enix Wants Tomb Raider Fantasy RPG?

Despite failing in its attempt to purchase Tecmo last year, Square Enix has not stopped its search for a new partner following the successful acquisition of Taito. After licensing the Unreal Engine, the Japanese RPG behemoth that created the legendary Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest series, is now looking to further strengthen its Western ties with a bid for UK-based company Eidos, owner of the lucrative Tomb Raider brand.

The bid is said to be £84.3 million, with Eidos' Board of Directors set to recommend the offer to shareholders. Square Enix is hoping this deal will "reinforce the Square Enix Group's position as one of the world's leaders in interactive entertainment with a broad portfolio of market leading franchises" - so could we eventually see Lara Croft feature in Final Fantasy, or even get her own RPG outing in the future? Who knows, but the possibility could definitely be there should everything go according to plan.

"Eidos is a talented developer and publisher of interactive entertainment products with a broad portfolio of highly successful mass market franchises, led by Tomb Raider, one of the most successful videogame franchises of all time.

"Eidos maintains a strong reputation for high quality development and proven expertise in creating characters and storylines that appeal to consumers. Eidos' products are highly complementary to our business and will accelerate our aggressive expansion into Western markets. We believe that wide range of both companies' quality products encompassing major genres will enable us to meet diversified customers' expectations upon a global basis."
- President of Square Enix, Yoichi Wada.

"Eidos has a strong portfolio of established franchises, with highly talented employees. Square Enix recognises this and sees Eidos as both complementary to their business as well as a valuable brand within videogames. We are one year into our new strategy and believe that the prospects for the further development of our strategy and the business as a part of Square Enix would offer an exciting opportunity for the Eidos Group."
- Phil Rogers, CEO of Eidos.

In other news, Bandai Namco has bought Japanese company D3 Publisher, the group behind Earth Defence Force, Puzzle Quest, Onechanbara, the Japanese 'Simple Series' and Ben 10. The deal has yet to be finalised yet, but the majority shareholder of D3 is in agreement that the move should not be ceased, with the purchase price being US$14 million.