SCi Games

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title: "SCi Games" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["square-enix", "eidos", "british-companies-established-in-1988", "video-game-companies-established-in-1988"] description: "British video game publisher" topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCi_Games" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary British video game publisher ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]

Field	Value
name	SCi Games Limited
logo	SCi.png
former_name
type	Private
industry	Video games
fate	Merged with Square Enix in 2009
successor	Square Enix Limited
founded	1988
founder	Jane Cavanagh
defunct	2009
hq_location_city	London
hq_location_country	England
key_people	Jane Cavanagh (chairwoman, 1988–2006; CEO, 1988–2008)
num_employees	900
num_employees_year	2008
::

| name = SCi Games Limited | logo = SCi.png | former_name = | type = Private | industry = Video games | fate = Merged with Square Enix in 2009 | successor = Square Enix Limited | founded = 1988 | founder = Jane Cavanagh | defunct = 2009 | hq_location_city = London | hq_location_country = England | key_people = Jane Cavanagh (chairwoman, 1988–2006; CEO, 1988–2008) | num_employees = 900 | num_employees_year = 2008

SCi Games Limited (formerly The Sales Curve Limited and SCi (Sales Curve Interactive) Limited) was a British video game publisher based in London. The company was founded in 1988 by Jane Cavanagh and floated on the stock exchange in 1996. In May 2005, SCi's parent company SCi Entertainment Group plc acquired Eidos plc, the parent company of publisher Eidos Interactive, and merged their operations by June 2006; that company was briefly renamed Eidos. It was acquired by Square Enix in March 2009 and subsequently absorbed in November of that year.

History

Jane Cavanagh, formerly an executive for British Telecom's Telecomsoft division, founded The Sales Curve in 1988, following a trip to Japan that convinced her of the potential of the video game industry. Cavanagh established and ran the company without external funding, and owned 100% of the company's shares. The Sales Curve published their games under the label Storm and was renamed SCi (Sales Curve Interactive) in 1994. Its parent company, SCi Entertainment, floated on the Alternative Investment Market in 1996.

By February 1999, SCi Entertainment reported a turnover of . In February 2004, the company acquired Pivotal Games. In October 2004, SCi announced publishing agreements of its games for the Gizmondo handheld. In January 2005, SCi invested in Rocksteady Studios, acquiring 25.1% of the company's shares.

Eidos takeover

In April 2005, SCi entered into a bid for Eidos plc, the parent company of Eidos Interactive. Eidos was acquired by SCi in May 2005, and fully merged with SCi by June 2006 with the Eidos brand used for all future games. 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 Britain, when Robert Tchenguiz's Thorson Investments owned a 14.6% stake after acquiring a holding from Robert Bonnier. In December 2006, Warner Bros. 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 of SCi, while remaining chief executive officer (CEO). She was replaced by Tim Ryan, formerly non-executive director, as non-executive chairman of the board. In the 2007 New Year Honours, Cavanagh was named Officer of the Order of the British Empire (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 Square Enix on 27 March 2009 at 32p a share, a valuation of just over £84 million. Eidos was absorbed by Square Enix together in November of that year.

List of games

::data[format=table title="Games developed and/or published"]

Date	Title	Publisher(s)	Platform(s)	Ref.
1989	Shinobi	Sega	Personal computers	title=THE SALES CURVE Retro Gamer Issue 235
Gemini Wing	Tecmo
Silkworm
Big Run	Jaleco
1990	Narc	Ocean Software
The Ninja Warriors	Virgin Mastertronic
1991	Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone	Tradewest/The Sales Curve
Rod Land	The Sales Curve
SWIV
1992	Double Dragon 3: The Arcade Game	Acclaim Entertainment	Game Boy
Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat	The Sales Curve	Personal computers
Cover Girl Strip Poker
Super SWIV	SNES, Sega Genesis
1993	Time Slip	Vic Tokai	SNES
The Lawnmower Man	The Sales Curve	SNES, Sega Genesis, Game Boy, Sega CD
1994	Cyberwar	Interplay Productions	Personal computers, PlayStation
1996	Kingdom O' Magic
XS
1998	Star Trek Pinball	Interplay Entertainment	DOS
::

::data[format=table title="Games published only"]

Date	Title	Developer(s)	Platform(s)	Ref.
1992	Troddlers	Atod	Amiga
1993	The Aquatic Games	Millennium Interactive	Super Nintendo Entertainment System
1996	Gender Wars	The 8th Day
1997	Carmageddon	Stainless Games
1999	Live Wire!	The Code Monkeys
Cool Bricks	Pukka Games
2000	Thunderbirds
2002	Conflict: Desert Storm	Pivotal Games
2003	Rolling	Rage Software
2004	Richard Burns Rally	Warthog Games	PlayStation 2, Xbox, Windows, Gizmondo
2005	Constantine (video game)	Bits Studios	PlayStation 2, Xbox, Windows
::

References

References

1. Duby, Mary. (25 October 2005). "Big shot".
2. Bowers, Simon. (19 January 2008). "SCi shares flourish after founder is forced out".
3. Dobson, Jason. (2 January 2007). "SCi's Jane Cavanagh Receives OBE".
4. "Innovation in the British Video Game Industry since 1978 {{!}} Business History Review {{!}} Cambridge Core".
5. (1996-07-19). "SALES CURVE INTERACTIVE TO FLOAT ON JUNIOR LONDON MARKET".
6. (3 February 1999). "Shanks sold to US buyer for pounds 235m".
7. Calvert, Justin. (19 February 2004). "SCi acquires Pivotal Games".
8. (11 October 2004). "SCi announces new publishing agreements".
9. (17 January 2005). "Roll Call back on track as SCi funds new development studio".
10. Dennis, Guy. (9 April 2005). "'They probably paid too much'".
11. (27 January 2008). "Can Tomb Raider's owner dodge the grave?".
12. (20 June 2005). "SCi reveals Eidos plan".
13. (17 July 2006). "The Investment Column: With Lara Croft on the rampage, Sci".
14. "Eidos board quits".
15. Martinson, Jane. (25 October 2005). "Bounty hunters set their sights on Tomb Raider company".
16. Bowers, Simon. (16 February 2006). "SCi Entertainment calls time on talks with potential bidders".
17. (15 December 2006). "Warner Bros. Entertainment To Invest In SCi EntertainmentGroup, Leading Video Games Publisher".
18. Thelwell, Emma. (4 September 2007). "SCi Entertainment shares soar on takeover approach".
19. (3 July 2006). "Cavanagh steps down as SCi chair, remains as CEO".
20. (12 April 2012). "Lara Croft firm SCi's boss fired in clearout".
21. Thelwell, Emma. (25 August 2018). "SCi Entertainment shares soar on shake-up".
22. Bland, Juliette Garside and Ben. (25 August 2018). "Lara Croft owner soars as founder ousted".
23. (2 December 2008). "SCi files to change name to Eidos".
24. Caoili, Eric. (3 December 2008). "SCi Finalizes Name Change To Eidos As Buyout Rumors Mount".
25. (3 December 2008). "SCi: Just call me 'Eidos'".
26. "Eidos approves takeover by Square Enix".
27. (2009-07-11). "Square Enix Europe formed".
28. "THE SALES CURVE {{!}} Retro Gamer Issue 235".
29. "Ronald Pieket (Sales Curve) - Interview - Arcade Attack".
30. "Big Run - Amiga Game Review - Lemon Amiga".
31. "C64.COM - For the best in C64 nostalgia".
32. "Double Dragon Dojo: Double Dragon 3 Amiga version review".
33. "The story of SWIV {{!}} Eurogamer.net".
34. "Double Dragon Dojo: Double Dragon 3 Game Boy version review".
35. "The Lawnmower Man licensed games - Backdoor to tie-in lunacy - The Genesis Temple".
36. "Collectors' corner!".
37. (25 January 2009). "Constantine Review".
38. (31 March 2008). "Constantine - The Videogame".

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