Eidos misses film opportunity

Eidos, the interactive games publisher that owns the rights to Lara Croft, is missing out by not releasing a new game to coincide with the film based on its famous character, according to industry observers.

The film, "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider", is released on Friday in the US, and comes to the UK next month, but Eidos says it will not release a new Tomb Raider game until next year because of differing production schedules in the gaming and movie businesses.

Eidos says it is overhauling the game to take advantage of newer, more powerful gaming platforms such as Microsoft's Xbox and Sony's PlayStation2. The only tie-in will be with the film's DVD release in November, which will include information on new Eidos products.

Along with many video-game companies, Eidos has been the victim of a cyclical downturn in the gaming industry, as consumers switch to a newer generation of platforms. The company reported a loss of £97.3m in the year ended 31 March, down from profits of £25.2m for the previous year.

The company has received £1m in licensing fees from Paramount for film rights, but industry analysts say the company could have stood to rake in far more from a new game introduced at the right time.

What's going on in games? For all the latest see Gamespot UK.

Have your say instantly, and see what others have said. Click on the TalkBack button and go to the ZDNet news forums.

Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom. And read other letters.