Eidos today announces four of its key titles to be unveiled at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, California on May 18-20, 2005. Eidos games will be featured by exclusive appointment only. We will be there, so keep an eye out for our coverage. Read more for details and each title ...

Paving the way for SCi's takeover, Gamindustry.biz is reporting that Elevation Partners has withdrawn from the bidding race to take over ailing developer/publisher Eidos. Former EA president John Riccitiello made a statement this morning that they would no longer be pursuing avenues to invest, clearing the path for shareholders to accept SCi's offer instead. Once ratified, SCi already promised it would restructure Eidos from the top down, and transforms the studio according to its own model, as it has done with Oivotal, known for its Conflict franchise.

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.

Eidos UK's latest six-month result shows that the long time fledging developer/publisher continues to be in bad financial shape as it posted a £29.2 million operating loss. Shares dropped to an all time low, and while a new buyout proposal made on March 2nd is under consideration, no decisions have been made yet. Even further bad news was came to light as it was confirmed that Hitman: Blood Money, 25 to Life, Just Cause and the new Tomb Raider are being delayed due to a 'strategic decision' and are being pushed back fiscal 2006, meaning not earlier than July 2005. Previously only announced for PC and PS2, the new Tomb Raider is now also scheduled for Xbox 2 and PSP.

What was being rumored already last week is now official, Eidos announced : "This is part of the company's move to consolidate and strengthen its technical and management capabilities into a smaller number of studios which are capable of scaling up in order to meet the competitive challenges that lie ahead, particularly in anticipation of next generation technologies and platforms." At the same time Eidos is expanding its San Francisco Crystal Dynamics studio, currently working on Project Snowblind.

Eidos today announced additions to the genre-bending in-game soundtrack for Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes The Neighborhood. Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes The Neighborhood offers a soundtrack featuring contributions from legendary artists, today’s hottest acts, and tomorrow’s industry leaders.

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

• Championship Manager 5 (PC)
• Crash 'n' Burn (PS2/Xb)
• Get On Da Mic (PS2/Xb)

Eidos announces it has secured the distribution rights to LEGO Star Wars with Giant Interactive Entertainment Ltd for all countries except Japan. The game will be released in April 2005 for the PS2, Xbox, PC and GBA.

Earlier today Eidos has released some financial numbers in respect of the current financial year to June 30, 2004. Apart from the fact that sales on Hitman and Thief 3 were lower than expected the most notable announcement was that eventhough it seems 'ShellShock: Nam '67' is finished it is being pusbed back until September. "Given these circumstances, and notwithstanding that the game is now ready to release, the Board has decided to hold the release of ShellShock: Nam '67 until September so as to provide this important new franchise with a better opportunity to deliver its true potential." For more details, read the full financial statement.

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

• ShellShock: Nam '67 (PS2/Xbox/PC)
• Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes The Neighborhood (PS2)
• Thief: Deadly Shadows (Xbox/PC)
• Imperial Glory (PC)
• Crash 'n' Burn (PS2)

Experience the dramatic intensity of the frontlines of a war through the eyes of the first of a new breed of super soldiers in this gritty and epic first-person action game. Players live the fantasy of being an elite special operations combat soldier with access to the most high-tech weaponry, gadgets and vehicles, presented with all the realism, emotional intensity, and valor found in the popular "War Games" shooter genre.

Eidos reinforces its dedication to developing platform-leading, content-rich brands. Among the games highlighted during the show are: Hitman: Contracts, Imperial Glory, Get On Da Mic, Singles ­ Flirt up your Life, Crash ‘n’ Burn and Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes The Neighborhood. Read more for details on each title ...

Imperial Glory promises to be the most extensive strategy game ever, offering an in-depth management model along with graphically stunning real-time land and naval battles in full 3D. Choose which of the five great 19th century Empires to lead: Great Britain, France, Russia, Prussia or Austro-Hungary, each with their own unique attributes. Imperial Glory is being developed by Pyro Studios and will be released on PC in early 2005. Read more for details & the first screens...

Eidos announces it has signed a development deal with Climax. Climax's Brighton studio is developing Crash 'n' Burn, an arcade driving game for PlayStation 2 and Xbox which will be released in autumn 2004

Eidos today announced it has secured a development partnership deal with Highway 1 Productions, Inc. (Hwy 1), a newly founded independent production company. Eidos and Hwy 1 have recently begun development on a third person, urban action game with an online component for the PlayStation2 and Xbox. The game will be formally announced and showcased in the Eidos’ booth at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), held annually in Los Angeles, CA from May 12-14, 2004.

Eidos announces that it has reached agreement to acquire IO Interactive, the Danish based studio responsible for the hugely successful Hitman franchise. The acquisition of IO secures the future rights of the Hitman series and significantly strengthens Eidos' European creative base and development resource. In addition, the deal will facilitate the use of IO's leading edge technology platform across the Group, which will play a key role in the development of next generation titles.

Eidos today announced its Fresh Games line will bring R-TYPE FINAL, the newest iteration of the classic R-TYPE franchise, to North America for the PlayStation2 this Winter.

Quazal today announced the signing of a licensing agreement with Eidos to provide the Net-Z multiplayer online middleware technology for two upcoming Eidos titles on PlayStation2 and Xbox. This agreement marks the start of a longer-term relationship between Eidos and Quazal that will result in the development of further Net-Z-based titles throughout 2004. This deal represents the first in what will be a series of major announcements from Quazal over the coming months. Read more for details ...

Eidos announces it has signed a development deal with Guerrilla. Formerly known as Lost Boys Games, Guerrilla is developing a 3rd person action game for Eidos which will be released on PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC in summer 2004.

Sports Interactive and Eidos today announce that they have mutually decided to end their longstanding relationship in relation to the development of the Championship Manager series of computer games. The two companies will work together on Championship Manager: Season 03/04, which will be the last game in the series to be developed by Sports Interactive. The game will be released by Eidos in the fourth quarter of this calendar year.

Eidos has unveiled a new identity and a fresh corporate image. The corporate re-branding will be used across the group worldwide from 1st August 2003.. Eidos, after a period of transition, believes it is vital that its brand keeps pace with the ever-changing requirements of the market place and technology. The new image conveys a forward looking, customer focused, market-smart publisher of entertainment software.

Eidos Interactive today announced its groundbreaking console and PC game line-up for the upcoming 2003 Electronics Entertainment Expo held May 14-16 in Los Angeles, California. Eidos will feature several games in South Hall booth #824 this year including Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness for the PS2 and PC; Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This at Home for the PS2 and Xbox; Deus Ex: Invisible War for Xbox and PC; Commandos 3: Destination Berlin for the PC; and Republic: The Revolution for the PC. Read more for detials ...

Sold Out has confirmed that it has signed an agreement with Eidos to extend its exclusive deal to release their titles as part of its £4.99 super-budget range for PC. The extended deal will see 13 new Eidos titles added to the range, which will be released over the duration of the next 12 months.

Eidos Interactive, one of the world's leading publishers and developers of entertainment software, announces an exciting partnership with multi-platinum recording artists the Insane Clown Posse (ICP) and Psychopathic Records for the forthcoming video game Backyard Wrestling. The partnership allows Eidos usage of ICP songs for the in-game soundtrack and multiple marketing co-opportunities at ICP concerts and Juggalo Championship Wrestling (JCW) events in addition to events at retail. Gamers will be able to unlock exclusive ICP content on the game disc as well as play as ICP's lead-singers Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope in the game.