Lara Croft Takes A Dive

Poor sales of Tomb Raider: Underworld mean game maker Eidos won't meet expectations this year.

Normally you’d expect a few Lara Croft game to be a massive hit. But sales of Tomb Raider: Underworld have been disappointing, shifting just 1.5 million copies between its release in November and the end of the year.

That’s had a big impact on game maker Eidos. The company has said it won’t meet expectations for the year, as the poor performance has wiped $30 million off projected sales, and it might have to re-negotiate loan terms with its bank.

Of course, the situation wasn’t helped by a five month delay in the game’s release, and in a statement the company said:

"In a difficult North American economy we have seen retailers restricting inventory levels and triple-A products being discounted above our expectation."

The game only received mixed reviews, and Eidos has shed a quarter of its workforce already, according to the Guardian. But it has high hopes for its heavily-anticipated Batman: Arkham Asylum game, due later this year.