 | |
| Formerly | |
|---|---|
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 1984; 41 years ago (1984) inPutney, London, England |
| Founders |
|
| Defunct | 10 November 2009; 15 years ago (2009-11-10) |
| Fate | Merged withSquare Enix in 2009 |
| Successor | Square Enix Limited |
| Headquarters | , England |
Key people | Ian Livingstone (executive chairman of Eidos plc, 1995–2002) |
| Products | |
| Parent |
|
Eidos Interactive Limited (formerlyDomark Limited) was a Britishvideo game publisher based inWimbledon, London. Among its franchises wereChampionship Manager,Deus Ex,Hitman,Thief andTomb Raider. Domark was founded by Mark Strachan and Dominic Wheatley in 1984. In 1995, it was acquired by software company Eidos.Ian Livingstone, who held a stake in Domark, became executive chairman of Eidos and held various roles including creative director. Eidos took overU.S. Gold in 1996, which included developerCore Design, and merged its operations including Domark, which created publishing subsidiary Eidos Interactive. The company acquiredCrystal Dynamics in 1998, and owned numerous other assets. In 2005, parent Eidos was taken over by games publisherSCi. The combined company, SCi Entertainment Group, which was briefly renamed Eidos, was itself taken over bySquare Enix in 2009.
Square Enix completed the merger with Eidos Interactive by November 2009, absorbing it primarily into group company Square Enix Limited (also known asSquare Enix Europe). Eidos executive Phil Rogers stayed with the company as Square Enix Europe CEO and became CEO of Americas and Europe in 2013 along with other executives.[a] In August 2022, games holding companyEmbracer Group completed its acquisition of studios Crystal Dynamics,Eidos-Montréal andSquare Enix Montréal and intellectual propertiesTomb Raider,Legacy of Kain,Deus Ex andThief among other assets. Rogers joined Embracer and formed an operative group called CDE Entertainment.
Domark was founded by Mark Strachan and Dominic Wheatley in 1984. For Christmas 1983, Wheatley (the grandson of the writerDennis Wheatley) had visited his family, where he saw his brother playThe Heroes of Karn on a newly purchasedCommodore 64. He was impressed with the game and felt that ordinary people, not just those who worked with computers professionally, would start acquiring computers and games for them. When he returned to his London job as a junior account executive at a smalladvertising agency, he spoke to Strachan, his colleague, and floated the idea of setting up a company to publish games from third-party developers. Strachan initially declined but later saw that many retailers in the city had sold out ofZX Spectrum models, which he felt signaled great interest in video games. Strachan and Wheatley, then aged 24, subsequently quit their jobs and founded Domark, using aportmanteau of their first names for the company. To design theadventure gameEureka!, they hired Andromeda Software and the Hungarian developer Novotrade, and brought inIan Livingstone as its writer. Strachan and Wheatley further devised a competition in which a telephone number would be shown upon completing the game, and the first person to call it would win£25,000. Through friends, family, and other acquaintances, they raised£160,000, more than enough to finance the project. Domark released the game later in 1984, marketing it through Concept Marketing, another firm set up by Strachan and Wheatley. Impressed with the company's operations, Livingstone invested£10,000 in Domark.Eureka! sold 15,000 copies. Domark were unsure what project to pursue next; Strachan and Wheatley had a contact in the estate ofIan Fleming and approached them with the idea of producing a video game based onJames Bond. In 1985, Domark obtained a licence toA View to a Kill. Despite delays caused byscope creep,the eponymous game was released later in 1985 and was "actually quite successful", according to Wheatley.[2][3]
Domark found further success with computer conversions ofboard games:Trivial Pursuit was becoming increasingly popular, so Domark got into contact with games publisher Leisure Genius, which had found success with board game conversions. Leisure Genius was skeptical about a conversion ofTrivial Pursuit, and Domark hired Oxford Digital Enterprises to develop it instead. Released in 1986, theTrivial Pursuit sold roughly 2 million copies. The success allowed Domark to move into proper offices and hire more employees. Domark released furtherTrivial Pursuit andJames Bond games in the years following. The company also got intoarcade game conversions in 1987 when Wheatley, alone at theConsumer Electronics Show inLas Vegas, encountered Manlio Allegra, an agent for companies includingAtari Games. Allegra wanted Domark to produce conversions for as many games as possible but Wheatley claimed that the company had only£25,000 to spend. Allegra then went through a list of games to be licensed at low prices and Wheatley stopped him when he mentioned theStar Wars trilogy of games. They agreed on a license for Wheatley's claimed budget. To have the games developed, Domark brought a German programmer to England, who had previously developed Star Wars forAmiga. Domark released its versions later in 1987, and they became so successful that the first royalty cheque paid to Atari Games two months later amounted to£280,000. Impressed with this return, Atari Games hired Domark as the exclusive partner for computer conversions of arcade games. With sufficient funds, the company published various games through the rest of the 1980s. It set up an internal development team, The Kremlin, within itsPutney headquarters in 1990 and expanded to 20 employees by 1992. In the same year, Livingstone joined Domark's board as an investor, while Wheatley moved with his wife and two children to the US to better manage the company's American contacts. A US subsidiary for Domark was formally established inSilicon Valley in 1993.[2][3]
In 1994, Strachan and Wheatley encountered Charles Cornwall, chairman of Eidos, a company that developedvideo compression software for systems like theAcorn Archimedes. Domark was struggling on the business side and Eidos had no sales at that time, so the two companies agreed to areverse merger takeover. Domark was merged with Eidos, with Domark's operations aligned as a subsidiary of the newer Eidos.[2] The deal was announced in September 1995 as an acquisition of Domark (alongside developers Simis andBig Red Software) by Eidos for£12.9 million.[4] The new company was floated on theLondon Stock Exchange as Eidos that year.[5] Livingstone becameexecutive chairman and Strachan left Domark in that year.[6][2]
On 31 May 1996, Simis and Big Red Software were merged into Domark.[7] Eidos took over CentreGold in April 1996 for£17.6 million. CentreGold consisted of distributor CentreSoft[b] and publisherU.S. Gold, which included development subsidiariesCore Design andSilicon Dreams Studio.[9][10] Eidos Interactive's first major title was soon to be releasedTomb Raider by Core Design, which CentreGold had itself acquired two years prior.[11] Silicon Dreams Studio was re-acquired by its founder, Geoff Brown, through newly founded Geoff Brown Holdings (laterKaboom Studios), on 16 December that year.[12] In 1997, Wheatley left the company to move back to Britain and focus on other projects.[2] In January 1998,Opticom entered into an agreement with Eidos to develop storage devices, with both companies holding shares in each other.[13] Eidos acquired developerCrystal Dynamics in September 1998.[14] In 1999, Eidos acquired a 51% stake inIon Storm, in exchange for advances to the developers,[15] and aUS$55m stake in web portal company Maximum Holdings.[16] Eidos founderStephen B. Streater resigned as director in June and went on to foundForbidden Technologies.[17] The following year Eidos CEO Cornwall left the company to focus on technology and mining interests and was succeeded by former COO Michael McGarvey.[18] A publicised takeover bid fromInfogrames Entertainment failed to materialize in October 2000.[19] In January 2002, Eidos established label Fresh Games for games localised from Japan, with titles includingMister Mosquito,Mad Maestro! andLegaia 2: Duel Saga.[20] Livingstone stepped down as chairman and became creative director in September 2002.[21] In 2003, Eidos founded Beautiful Game Studios inside their headquarters, which continued itsChampionship Manager series after splitting with previous developerSports Interactive.[22][23] In March 2004, Eidos acquired Danish developerIO Interactive, which was developing published titleHitman: Contracts.[24] Ion Storm was closed in February 2005.[25]
On 21 March 2005, Eidos received a takeover bid fromElevation Partners, aprivate equity firm owned by formerElectronic Arts presidentJohn Riccitiello. This takeover valued the company at£71 million, and would inject£23 million in order to keep the company frombankruptcy in the short term.[26] Elevation stated it plans to take Eidos private for some years to focus on game creation and release schedules, and its offer was initially recommended by Eidos' board.[27]
On 22 March 2005, Eidos plc received a second takeover bid from games publisherSCi. The bid was for£74 million, and tabled a restructuring plan to cut£14 million from annual costs. To fund this takeover, SCi proposed to sell£60 million worth of stock. In late April, Elevation Partners formally withdrew its offer, leaving the way clear for SCi.[28] SCi's takeover was finalized on 16 May 2005, with SCi merging itself into Eidos Interactive's parent SCi Entertainment Group. Livingstone was the only returning board member and became product acquisition director.[29][30][31]
Core Design pitched aTomb Raider remake for the game's 10th anniversary to SCi/Eidos in 2005.[11] Former studio manager Gavin Rummery stated in 2015 that SCi loved the project, butCrystal Dynamics had their own demo, which then convinced SCi to cancel Core's project (Tomb Raider: Anniversary).[11][32] In May 2006,Rebellion Developments acquired Core Designs' assets and staff, while the Core brand and intellectual property, includingTomb Raider, remained with SCi.[33] In December 2006,Warner Bros. licensed classic properties to SCi, while investing for 10.3% of SCi shares.[34] In 2007, SCi acquired a number of new studios for itsNew Media division: mobile phone developer Rockpool Games, along with its two sister companies Ironstone Partners and SoGoPlay, Morpheme, andgaming portal Bluefish Media.[35][36]Majesco Entertainment signed a distribution deal for eight games with SCi in April 2007.[37] In November 2007, SCi opened a new studio inMontreal, Quebec, which was later namedEidos-Montréal and developed a new game in theDeus Ex franchise.[38][39]
On 4 September 2007, SCi stated that they had been approached with possible offers for the company.[40] By January 2008, the offer talks had halted.[41][42] The share price dropped by over 50% and shareholders called for the resignation of key personnel, including CEO Jane Cavanagh, over this issue as well as delays to key titles.[43] On 18 January 2008, Cavanagh and management team left the company.[44] Jürgen Goeldner was as appointed as interim COO that month.[45][46] In April 2008, newly appointed CEO Phil Rogers, a former Electronic Arts executive, stated they want to be a "leaner and fitter company", as well as "studio-led".[47][48] They moved "certain functions" from the United Kingdom to Quebec, Canada, partially due to economic advantages offered by Montreal's government.[47] SCi subsidiary Pivotal Games was closed in July.[49]Koch Media acquired Proein, SCi's Spanish distribution division, in July 2008.[50] During SCi 2008 financial report, losses were at£100 million, which Rogers stated were due to the reconstructing plans.[51] On 19 September 2008, SCi opened aShanghai-based studio, Eidos Shanghai, consisting of a small team to build up relations in Asia.[52] In 2008, SCi set up an entity, which later became Square Enix London Studios headed by Lee Singleton in their Wimbledon headquarters.[53][54] In December 2008, SCi rebranded as Eidos.[55] Rockpool Games was closed in January 2009.[56]
In February 2009,Square Enix reached an agreement to purchase Eidos plc for£84.3 million, pending shareholder approval,[57] with an initial aim of completing the takeover on 6 May 2009.[58] The offer was backed by majority stakeholder Warner Bros.[59] The date was brought forward, and Square Enix took over Eidos on 22 April 2009.[60][61] That month,Eidos Hungary (formerly Mithis Entertainment) was closed among other cuts and Livingstone became Life President of Eidos.[62][63] Square Enix initially stated that it would let Eidos remain structured as it was at the time of its takeover.[64] In July 2009, it announced that it would merge Eidos into Square Enix, which created a new entity, tentatively titled Square Enix Europe and described as a business unit representing sales and marketing offices in the United Kingdom, France and Germany.[65][66] Eidos' US operations were merged with Square Enix Incorporated, headed by John Yamamoto.[67] The merger was completed on 10 November 2009 with the company Square Enix Limited organized under Square Enix Europe.[68][69] Square Enix Europe under Rogers continued to managed the former SCi/Eidos studios.[70]
Domark's prominent games series wasChampionship Manager, the first title being developed bySports Interactive and released in September 1992. For Eidos Interactive, it wasTomb Raider, the first being developed byCore Design and released in October 1996.
In May 2022, Square Enix announced it would sell several of Square Enix Limited's assets toEmbracer Group for$300 million. These included development studiosCrystal Dynamics,Eidos-Montréal,Square Enix Montréal, andintellectual properties such asTomb Raider,Deus Ex,Thief,Legacy of Kain alongside "50 back-catalogue games", with the deal expected to be completed in the second quarter of Embracer's financial year.[74] Embracer announced that the subsidiaries and IPs would form as their 12th operative group, under the leadership of Phil Rogers, and was later given the name of CDE (Crystal Dynamics - Eidos) Entertainment.[74] Square Enix's activities will continue to include publishing games from third-party studios includingOutriders,Life Is Strange andJust Cause. On 20 May 2022, Embracer stated it sees potential in sequels, remakes and remasters.[75] The deal was completed on 26 August 2022.[76] In November 2022, Embracer shut down Square Enix Montréal and transferred Eidos-Shanghai toGearbox Entertainment as Gearbox Studio Shanghai.[77]
| Studio | Subsidiary | Location | Founded | Acquired | Fate | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Domark | London, England | 1984 | 1995 | Transformed into Eidos Interactive in 1996 | [2] | |
| Simis | 1988 | [4] | ||||
| Big Red Software | Leamington Spa, England | 1989 | ||||
| CentreGold | U.S. Gold | Birmingham, England | 1984 | 1996 | [9] | |
| Core Design | Derby, England | 1988 | Assets acquired byRebellion Developments in 2006 | [10][33] | ||
| Silicon Dreams Studio | Adderbury, England | 1994 | Management buyout in 1996 | [9][12] | ||
| Crystal Dynamics | Redwood City, California | 1992 | 1998 | Became Square Enix subsidiary, acquired byEmbracer in 2022 | [14][74] | |
| Ion Storm | Dallas, Texas; Austin, Texas | 1996 | 1999 | Closed in 2005 | [25] | |
| Beautiful Game Studios | Eidos' headquarters | 2003 | Became Square Enix studio | [22] | ||
| IO Interactive | Copenhagen, Denmark | 1998 | 2004 | Became Square Enix subsidiary, management buyout in 2017 | [24] | |
| Hapti.co | 2012 | [78] | ||||
| Pivotal Games | Bath, England | 2000 | SCi subsidiary | Closed in 2008 | [49] | |
| Eidos Hungary | Budapest, Hungary | 2002 | 2006 | Closed in 2009 | [62] | |
| Eidos Studios Sweden | Helsingborg, Sweden | 1987 | 2006 | Closed in 2008 | [79] | |
| Eidos-Montréal | Montreal, Quebec | 2007 | Became Square Enix subsidiary, acquired byEmbracer in 2022 | [38] | ||
| Eidos-Shanghai | Shanghai, China | 2008 | Became part of Eidos-Montréal in 2019, becameGearbox Studio Shanghai in 2022 | [52][80][77] | ||
| Morpheme Wireless | London, England | 1999 | 2007 | Closed in 2009 | [81] | |
| Gimme5Games | 2007 | Management buyout in 2009 | [82] | |||
| Rockpool Games | Manchester, England | 2002 | 2007 | Closed in 2009 | [56] | |
| Square Enix Montréal | Montreal, Quebec | 2011 | Acquired and closed byEmbracer in 2022 | [72][83] | ||
| Square Enix London Mobile | London, England | 2021 | [84] | |||
Although based in North America, development studios Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal are managed by SQUARE ENIX EUROPE, UK-based business unit.
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