Eidos parent SCi’s protracted talks with potential acquirers have come to an end, the company has revealed.

In a trading statement, SCi also revealed that its biggest release of the calendar year, Tomb Raider: Underworld, would be delayed from its scheduled June release date to Christmas in order to achieve ‘maximum impact’.

The title was scheduled to arrive on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 in the summer, but will now arrive on three additional formats – Wii, DS and PS2 – during the festive period.

Three other unnamed major franchises previously scheduled for a summer release have also been held back until Christmas.

As a result, SCi now forecasts an operating loss for 2008 – although the company added that it was pleased with its Christmas results for 2007.

SCi CEO Jane Cavanagh told MCV: “This is not a question of talks collapsing. The timeframe we put on talks had finished, so they had to come to an end.

“The movement of Tomb Raider to a Christmas release will not only give us the opportunity to release on six formats, but also to ensure we can give it a bigger and better launch.

"We can now fully exploit our biggest franchise with a suitably huge marketing campaign. The extra time will also help us make the most of the three other titles we have decided to hold back.”

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