Lara Croft gets ‘biggest’ TV ad push

Gaming company Eidos is planning its biggest ever TV ad campaign to support the latest Lara Croft title, Tomb Raider: Underworld, which will be released in November.

The firm, owned by SCi Entertainment Group, says it aims to secure the Christmas number one spot in the gaming charts and is putting over £1m behind the launch.

The title will be released across all platforms on November 21 and will be backed by a campaign covering TV, print, outdoor and online.

It is the first time for eight years that a Tomb Raider title has been released for the Christmas market and the first time a title has been released on all current formats, such as PlayStation and Xbox. Eidos UK marketing manager Jon Brooke says: “We have had large launches before but this is certainly the biggest for eight years.”

He says the ads will target a wide demographic, from younger players to long-term fans of the franchise and the Christmas gift market.

The launch, which has been delayed from June, comes after a turbulent year for SCi in which several central departments were axed and founder and chief executive Jane Cavanagh and her husband, Bill Ennis, were ousted (MW March 13).