SCi Entertainment Group plc (formerly The Sales Curve Limited and SCi (Sales Curve Interactive) Limited) was a British

video game publisher A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that have been developed either internally by the publisher or externally by a video game developer. They often finance the development, sometimes by paying a video game developer ( ...

based in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. The company was founded in 1988 by Jane Cavanagh and floated on the stock exchange in 1996. In May 2005, SCi acquired Eidos plc, the parent company of publisher

Eidos Interactive Square Enix Limited (formerly Domark Limited and Eidos Interactive Limited) is a British subsidiary of the Japanese video game company Square Enix, acting as their European publishing arm. The company formerly owned ''Tomb Raider'', which was in ...

, and merged their operations by June 2006. In December 2008, SCi was briefly renamed Eidos and was subsequently acquired by

Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game ...

in March 2009.

History

Jane Cavanagh, formerly an executive for

British Telecom BT Group plc (trade name, trading as BT and formerly British Telecom) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is th ...

Telecomsoft Telecomsoft was a British video game publisher and a Division (business), division of British Telecom. The company was founded by Ederyn Williams, Dr. Ederyn Williams in 1984 and operated three separate labels: Firebird, Rainbird, and Silverbir ...

division, founded The Sales Curve in 1988, following a trip to Japan that convinced her of the potential of the

video game industry The video game industry encompasses the development, marketing, and monetization of video games. The industry encompasses dozens of job disciplines and thousands of jobs worldwide. The video game industry has grown from niches to mainstream. , ...

. Cavanagh established and ran the company without external funding, and owned 100% of the company's shares. The Sales Curve was renamed SCi (Sales Curve Interactive) in 1994, and floated on the stock market in 1996, becoming SCi Entertainment. By February 1999, SCi reported a turnover of . In February 2004, the company acquired

Pivotal Games Pivotal Games Limited was a British video game developer based in Corston, England. History Pivotal Games was founded in March 2000, by fifteen employees formerly of Pumpkin Studios (the developer of ''Warzone 2100''), led by Jim Bambra, Ni ...

. In January 2005, SCi invested in

Rocksteady Studios Rocksteady Studios Limited is a British video game developer based in London, England. The company is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and the studio is best known for its work in the '' Batman: Arkham'' series. History ...

, acquiring 25.1% of the company's shares.

Eidos acquisition

In April 2005, SCi entered into a bid for Eidos plc, the parent company of

. Eidos was acquired by SCi in May 2005, and fully merged with SCi by June 2006. Following Eidos' acquisition, all executives of the acquired company resigned, and were replaced by SCi's management. In October 2005, SCi employed around 600 people. By February 2006, it was the largest video game company in Great Britain. In December 2006,

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

started investing in SCi in exchange for granting game licences to Warner Bros. films to SCi. Warner Bros. owned 10.3% in September 2007. In July 2006, Cavanagh stepped down as

chairwoman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of SCi, while remaining

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

(CEO). She was replaced by Tim Ryan, formerly

non-executive director A non-executive director (abbreviated to non-exec, NED or NXD), independent director or external director is a member of the board of directors of a corporation, such as a company, cooperative or non-government organization, but not a member of the ...

, as non-executive chairman of the board. In the

2007 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2007 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hono ...

, Cavanagh was named

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) for her services in the video game industry, particularly SCi. Cavanagh was ousted as CEO in January 2008, and left the company alongside her husband, Bill Ennis, and studio chief Rob Murphy. Following their departure, SCi's shares doubled in value. At the time, SCi had 900 employees. On 2 December 2008, SCi filed for changing its name to Eidos, which was finalised the following day. During 2008 the company raised £60 million at 35p a share. Eidos shareholders approved the acquisition by

on 27 March 2009 at 32p a share, a valuation of just over £84 million.

References

External links

Official website archived in 2005
*{{MobyGames company , company=sci-games-ltd , name=SCi Games Ltd. Square Enix Eidos British companies established in 1988 Video game companies established in 1988 Video game companies disestablished in 2009 Defunct video game companies of the United Kingdom