Tomb Raider and Hitman delayed

Better in the long-run?

SCI-Eidos (what are we supposed to call them these days?) have announced today that two of the company's key titles have been pushed back to allow for extra development time, the titles in question are Tomb Raider: Legend and Hitman: Blood Money - the two most prominent games in the publisher's portfolio. A representative told MCV that the games were being delayed to "maximise their hit potential," and we're hoping that this means they will both be an improvement over recent offerings in the same series'. SCI and Eidos became one in May, with SCI effectively buying-out the ailing Tomb Raider publisher.

This is the first time a new Lara game has been in the works outside of usual series developer Core Design, whose last offering Angel of Darkness was such a disappointment it lost the series to American developer Crystal Dynamics. The Hitman meanwhile is in altogether better shape, but will still no doubt benefit from the extra polish. Expectation is high that SCI can reinvigorate Eidos' impressive but somewhat tarnished portfolio, and we'll be watching their decisions - such as this - with interest over coming months.

By Luke Guttridge