In the ongoing drama surrounding the Eidos take-over, it now seems we may finally be coming to a close. Where initially Eidos announced a deal with Bono's Elevation investment group, SCi quickly made a counter offer which is gaining more and more momentum. Today Board of Eidos plc has undertaken further discussions and due diligence with both the Board of SCi Entertainment in relation to SCi's share offer of one SCi share per six Eidos shares and Elevation Partners, L.P. in relation to Elevation's cash offer of 50 pence per Eidos share.

Eidos said earlier this month that it had received an approach on March 2nd about a possible offer at 53 pence per share, and ever since, rumors have run rampant all over the web. Ubisoft was mentioned as a contender, and earlier today, reports stated that SCi had bought Eidos. None of it is true it seems, as it has now been confirmed that Eidos has agreed to a 71 million pounds ($135 million) cash offer from a unit of U.S. private equity company Elevation Partners LP. Interestingly enough, Elevation Partners is lead by people such as U2's Bono and former EA President John Riccitiello.

In a long interview with the Washington Post, Running with Scissors revealed that it is working on the next Postal sequel, code-named "Catharsis." The year is 2007 and the Dude has just left the town that was destroyed in the last game after accidentally finding and setting off a "weapon of mass destruction" misplaced by the U.S. government. He flees the atomic Armageddon and finds himself at a political rally for a presidential candidate in a nearby suburb. The plot unfolds as the player attempts to get random temp jobs that will cause him to cross paths with the presidential candidate, the Taliban, environmental advocacy groups and others. Except there's a twist: The next Postal will be a violent video game about nonviolence. You'll still have access to a slew of weapons, but you'll be rewarded with a better outcome if you play peacefully.

2K Games today announced that it has signed an agreement with SCi Games for exclusive North American publishing rights to Conflict: Global Terror, Carmageddon and Reservoir Dogs.

Strategy First Inc. is pleased to announce that Disciples II Gold has shipped to retailers nationwide. Developed and published by Strategy First, Disciples II Gold offers four great titles and countless hours of fantasy gameplay in one adventure-packed box.

The game places the player in the leading role of an over-the-top, John Woo inspired, Hollywood action movie, playing an undercover DEA agent infiltrating the Mexican drug cartels. The leading character has all the characteristics of a modern action film hero like Nicholas Cage or John Travolta, with a popular, vividly colourful and varied backdrop provided by the Mexican setting. Overdose is scheduled to be released on PS2/Xbox and PC in Q2 2005, at which point development for a sequel will be started (thanks HomeLAN).

Following a successful two-year stint as non-executive Chairman at Visual Science, during which the company's revenues have grown almost four-fold, Tim Christian has acquired a majority shareholding in the company from its founder.

Strategy First Inc. is pleased to announce that Disciples II Gold has gone gold. Developed and published by Strategy First Inc., Disciples II Gold includes the entire award-winning Disciples II series including Dark Prophecy, all three expansion packs (Guardians of the Light, Servants of the Dark, and Rise of the Elves), as well as new and exciting scenarios. Release is scheduled for January, 2005.

Head over to our dedicated EGN section to check out the following new screens from SCi's 2004 EGN lineup:

• Battlestations: Midway (PS2/Xbox/PC)
• Constantine (PS2/Xbox)
• Rogue Trooper (PS2/Xbox)
• Roll Call (PS2/Xbox)

Today we have more screens for SCi's 2004 E3 lineup. Check the following new screens for :

• Conflict: Vietnam (PS2/Xbox/PC)
• Midway (PS2/Xbox/PC)
• Galleon (Xbox)
• Richard Burns Rally (PS2/Xbox/PC)

SCi Games announced MIDWAY, a new tactical multi-player game of extraordinary proportions under development at Mithis, which will be released in 2005. The game focuses on the naval and aerial battles of World War II leading up to one of the greatest naval victories of all time, the Battle of Midway, which saw the highly outnumbered US Naval and Air forces take on the might of the most powerful naval force in modern history; the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Today UK publisher SCi disclosed their latest finanical update and apart from the fact they booked a smaller loss than expected (these days that seems to be a good thing), it also reveals a few new products for fiscal year 2005/2006. SCi has enter a publishing deal with Rebellion for a new PS2/Xbox action title, Rogue Trooper, based on a 2000AD comic book. The results also reveal that while Conflict: Vietnam is still in development, Pivotal is already at work on a fourth title in the franchise. Read more for additional details ...

The employees of Scion Studios have joined Epic Games in a move that doubles Epic's in-house development capacity. This will increase Epic's ability to develop multiple games, including those in its award-winning Unreal franchise, internally for both PC and console platforms.

The new version of Carmageddon is due in summer 2005. In addition to this, SCi has a further four products in the prototype phase with planned releases in the 2005 and 2006 financial years. "The last financial year has been our most successful to date," offered Cavanagh. "Our strategy of investing in high quality licences and products, working with the best developers and partnering with strong distributors worldwide is proving successful. The directors look forward to the future with great confidence." (thanks VE3D)

Independent game developer Running With Scissors has taken the wraps off the Postal League, the first organized multiplayer league for fans of POSTAL2: Share The Pain, the newest installment in the POSTAL franchise. Read more for details ...

Strategy First has released the first patch for The Disciples II RPG expansion pack Disciples II: Rise of the Elves. This update brings your retail game to v3.01 and addresses some AI issues, game continuity, units balancing and various other fixes (thanks Blues). Read more for detailed fix list and download links ...

Running With Scissors, the pugnacious publisher and developer of POSTAL 2: Share The Pain, proclaimed that the contractual blood tests were back and that they could now safely hook-up with the morally casual distribution demons at Tri Synergy, Inc., the videogame co-publishing company that will be handling sales services for Running With Scissors in North America.

Running With Scissors today seized control of their own destiny by announcing they will self-publish the first-ever multiplayer version of POSTAL. The outrageous game developer that no industry expert, media hack or political pundit predicted could ever survive simply by giving fans what they wanted, will ship POSTAL 2: Share The Pain, the MULTIPLAYER Edition, this December.

Strategy First is pleased to announce that the next chapter in the award-winning Disciples series, the stand-alone expansion pack titled Disciples II: Rise of the Elves has gone gold. The Disciples series has sold close to 400,000 copies worldwide and has received countless awards for its graphics, gameplay and unique twist on the fantasy strategy genre. Disciples II: Rise of the Elves will ship to retail stores on November 20th, 2003 with a SRP of $29.99 and an ESRB of T for TEEN.

Strategy First is pleased to announce the launch of a brand new mini-site for their upcoming stand-alone expansion pack, Disciples II: Rise of the Elves. The mini-site features an overview of the game, concept art and info about the new Elven race. Screenshots and original music from the game are also featured on the site. Be sure to come back often, as it will be updated weekly.

UK-based game publisher SCi Entertainment has acquired Pivotal Games for 2.36 million pounds (approximately 3.9 million dollars). Pivotal is the developer of the Conflict: Desert Storm series of tactical shooters and The Great Escape. Pivotal is completing the third game in the Conflict series and has begun development of the fourth. Pivotal Games was previously a subsidiary of Kaboom Studios – which recently closed its doors due to the poor performance of other components of its business. Pivotal currently employs approximately 70 people. The move is a unique one for SCi - which operates a business model generally based on outsourcing development to third parties.

The next chapter in the award-winning Disciples series will be a stand-alone expansion pack titled Disciples II: The Rise of the Elves and it will be released this fall. Disciples II: Rise of the Elves will give both new and old fans of the popular series just what they have been asking for; The Elven race. Read more for details and screens ...

Hip Interactive announced today the signing of an agreement with Strategy First naming Hip's Publishing Division as the principal North American vendor for approximately twenty PC titles over the next thirteen months. Nine titles will be released before Christmas 2003, including the much-anticipated sequel to Etherlords, a stand-alone add-on for the popular Jagged Alliance series, and a new title in the award-winning Disciples series. Now that the cat is out of the bag Strategy First will most likely rush out the official announcements soon ...

Released as part of a pair of stand-alone expansion packs for Disciples II, Servants of the Dark incorporates half of the content from the original game, as well as some new features and scenarios. The big question is whether or not this title offers enough new material to justify the purchase. Read this review for the answer.

Publisher/Developer Strategy First announced today that the Disciples world has expanded even further with Disciples II: Servants of the Dark, which shipped to retail stores today. “First we brought you Guardians of the Light, and now Servants of the Dark, which is going to introduce gamers to a whole new side of the Disciples world,” says Steve Milburn, Director of Marketing for Strategy First. “The good side was fun, but we all know that everyone is waiting for their chance to visit the dark side…”