Eidos Share Discussion Threads

[darrens] 01/9/2009 11:39

Not sure if anybody still follows this thread but I just had to mention that Batman looks like Eidos' biggest hit for a very, very long time. It's had great reviews, has been released at a great time of year and, of course, its Batman.

It's had a great first weekend (bigger than TR: Legend) and I think the game will sell very well because a) it's great source material and b) it's obviously a quality game.

Well done Rocksteady (ex Argonaut). They made a great game in Urban Chaos but it just didn't have the marketing or any licence so it was more critically acclaimed than ringing the tills. Given the Batman material they've really shown their quality so congratulations to them.

It's a shame that Eidos don't own the ip too but this is going to give them a nice cash boost (well, to Square now) and they can expect to get sequels too.

Again, just shame that they don't own the ip because they're going to lose a lot of bottom line profit to licensing costs and those negotiations are only to get tougher.

[hyper al] 07/5/2009 11:41

Arc2006

Charge them!

[pwilk47490] 07/5/2009 11:40

Can you believe it, as soon as I pressed Post Reply, the postman came.......Which included my cheque!

Sorry Capita ;-)

All the best everyone. Made quite a loss on this one, but doing so well on other stocks hoping to get some of it back with the CGT shuffle!!!!
pwilk47490

[pwilk47490] 07/5/2009 11:37

I haven't received my cheque yet!!! Bar Stewards!

[gnnmartin] 06/5/2009 19:26

Got my cash today.

[pwilk47490] 04/5/2009 15:25

What a surprise!!

[arc2006] 04/5/2009 10:34

My CFDs settled over a week ago. Halifax still to pay up. I called them and they said it would probably be around 6th May which is the last date of settlement. In other words they're holding on to the money as long as they can!

[amt] 04/5/2009 09:37

Does anyone know when we will receive our cash ? Thanks

[swiftnick] 02/5/2009 12:00

As the SCi / Eidos era draws to a close I would like to add my thanks to Darren for all his knowledgeable contributions over the years, both on Bougafer and on here.

I have made more on SCi than any other share.

Thanks, Darren, for encouraging me to hold/add when things were looking bright and to sell before the big fall.

[life of crime] 01/5/2009 20:01

Well, not surprisingly it looks as though Batman may slip. I think that is a good thing, as Summer is not an ideal time to release a blockbuster, being such a slow time for sales generally. However, as a new SQEX investor I am less pleased with the idea of an Xmas launch. Have they learned nothing from TRU?



If this important title is to be delayed and won't be ready by October, they should slip it to March or April next year, even if its ready by Nov or Dec. The launch of an important new IP needs all the help it can get, not be saddled by competition from the Xmas scrum. One of the benefits of Square's takeover was that Eidos would no longer be forced into unsuitable release dates because of cashflow problems. Hopefully this is just press speculation. There is also some new footage from the game itself:



Anyway, this is my last post on this BB so good luck to all the knowledgable contributors to the board, it was interesting to exchange various points of view. Definitely the end of an era for me, although at least my new investments are faring better than Eidos did!

[darrens] 27/4/2009 13:18

A couple of interesting tidbits.

Firstly, Square have said that they expect their money back on the Eidos investment within 2-3 years. They say they wouldn't have bothered if they thought it would take 5 years.

So, Square expect Eidos to give them a free cash flow of £85m in the next 2-3 years. That's over £25m a year. Crikey, I reckon if they have any sort of positive cash flow in a year that will be fairly miraculous.

I guess it does explain how come they paid up so much money for a business that was in such poor health. They're crazy.

In other news it's being reported that Empire Interactive (who were bought a few years back when they were bust) have now been liquidated by their owners. Not entirely their fault since the owners went bust but doesn't seem they can find a buyer.

[darrens] 23/4/2009 12:31

fft, well there is still a thriving UK games industry. But it's either owned by people overseas or unlisted. I don't think that the stock markets in the UK have ever understood the industry in all the times that companies were listed on it but, to be fair, that led to some huge over-valuations as well as unders.

ufg - always appreciated your (infrequent) contribution. [e-mail] if you're interested.

Nigel, difficult not to enjoy Cyprus although it is only a (massively indulgent) holiday home. The biggest thing that SCi/Eidos did for my life was to enable me not to have to work.

Now I have lots of time to do other things in life....like sit and watch share prices and worry about money.

Hang on, shum mishtake shurely?!

[gnnmartin] 23/4/2009 12:13

Reading all these goodbyes has made me unable to resist posting again, if only to say goodbye from me too. I too have done very well out of Eidos then SCi, and it is disturbing to reflect that the companies whose shares made me so much money failed to make themselves any money in the long term.

Anyhow, thanks to all for the interesting times, especially to Darren: enjoy Cyprus.
Nigel Martin

[fft] 22/4/2009 21:45

"never been able to vest a profitable share option"

wow ! That is scary.

[unfriendlyghost] 22/4/2009 21:40

As a long-time lurker, occasional poster and full-time SCi employee, I can say that reading this board for the last five years or so has been a delight. From the days of Diamante and Chef and SCi shares at 30-something pence through to now, where the shares are er, 30-something pence (surely some mistake! well, quite a few actually). Reading the posts on here was sometimes especially amusing and/or worrying when viewed with the extra knowledge available as an employee, especially when the posters here were making a lot more sense than our management! I've lost about 97% of the money I've ever invested in SCi shares and I've never been able to vest a profitable share option, so congrats to those who made money.

[fft] 22/4/2009 21:24

Yes,

remember Bougafer well. Shame when it closed. It is odd to think that there is now no UK computer games industry. Are we really that bad ?


Made a lot of money on paper with Sci first time round. sold 40k+ at about 500p just before the rights issue - think that was the only time i ever timed things right ! Lost 100k + when the price crashed down to 25p (i think that was the low). remember that horrible day when Sci announced the FY results would be postponed 1 month due to a whole load of porkies....

made money again after CDS/CDS 2 came out - oh happy days logging the sales progress accross the Europe and USA and waiting for the share price to catch up. And then they bought Eidos. A deal too far i thought - strangely, at the AGM before i had asked Jane whether she thought the company had grown to far for the existing management team and had they considered bring in people who had experience of running larger organisations (lead balloon sort of question really).

After announcing the Eidos purchase without changing the management team, i was out,and not back in til the price hit 23p as i thought a deal may happen.

[darrens] 22/4/2009 21:05

Wow, what to say.

Of general interest, this now means there are no publishers or developers represented on the UK stock market. Rage, Argonaut, Empire, Zoo, Eidos, SCi...all gone.

But you're going to have to forgive me if I get a bit personal on this one. SCi was my first investment in 1996 on the back of an up and coming game called Carmageddon which PC Zone told me was going to be bigger than Doom.

Since then, I can pretty much chronicle my life by my investments in SCi and Eidos and the impact of the losses (2001, damn you, SCi) and the wins (Eidos 1999 I love you, 2004, SCi you're the one I will always remember).

Some of you may remember Bougafer, the web-site I ran in the late 90s for people who wanted to invest in the VG industry. It was hugely educational and I managed to "meet" a lot of great people on there too. I remember it fondly.

I guess this will be my last ever post on SCi/Eidos and perhaps it's fitting that I type this from my house in Cyprus which wouldn't have been possible without them. Both those companies have given me enormous grief over the years but ultimately the good times have greatly outweighed the bad and they have provided me with a very different life than the one that I'd have without them.

Apologies for making this so personal but SCi/Eidos have been literally life-changing for me so it seems apt.

Good luck to all.

[life of crime] 22/4/2009 20:40

Well, tomorrow's delisting is the end of an era, not just for Eidos but for me as well, having owned shares in the company for over 10 years.

It is sad to see them go this way, at a knock down price. However, they are a perfect example of a good comapny let down by a succession of poor managers. I am now invested in SQEX and hope to share in their upside, because they have got a real bargain here.

Fortunately, I have got shares in other companies that have performed a lot better than this stock, but it is still frustrating to see a comapny being sold for less than fair value. As usual, the shareholders feel the pain while the board looks after itself.

Good luck to all the regular contributors to this BB, whatever your future investments may be (I would recommend IMG - a top class British tech company who have got a near monopony in mobile graphics, eg the iPhone - DYOR, etc).

[freelancer] 22/4/2009 19:10

Me too.

Another part of our UK games heritage drifts off into the night.

God bless.


Freelancer

[periorellis] 22/4/2009 16:25

sad to see them go...

[gnnmartin] 22/4/2009 10:57

Gosh, I got really excited for a few hours last night. I don't see why they felt it necessary to suspend trading from 5pm yesterday, before announcing what everyone expected this morning.
Nigel Martin

[hyper al] 22/4/2009 10:09

Well a bit of history.

Sad to see Eidos go.

[togglebrush] 22/4/2009 09:55

The board of Eidos is pleased to announce that the Scheme has now become effective and the entire issued share capital of Eidos is now owned by SQEX.

Admission to trading of Eidos Shares on the London Stock Exchange and the listing of Eidos Shares on the official list maintained by the UK Listing Authority will be cancelled at 8.00 a.m. (London time) on 23 April 2009.

In consideration for the cancellation of their shareholdings, shareholders on Eidos' share register at 6.00 p.m. (London time) on 21 April 2009 will receive 32 pence in cash for each Eidos Share held. Any cash consideration due to holders of Eidos Shares held in uncertificated form will be paid via CREST, and any cheques in respect of any cash consideration due to holders of Eidos Shares held in certificated form will be despatched by no later than 6 May 2009.

THE END

[dealy] 21/4/2009 18:19

Well, this share saved my neck this year. Sorry to see it go. Square took advantage of the incredibly weak markets to get a bargain. If they had launched a bid this month I am sure they would been forced to pay a lot more. In the end the only people that made decent money here were those were able to buy after the profit warning in January.

But that's life. Best of luck to all here.