Just a month ago, Take Two was thought to be the only interested party left in the negociation talks with British publisher Empire Interactive, after Vivendi and RedOctane (thought to be in race as well) supposedly dropped out. Now, according to Financial Times and The Guardian newspapers, Empire's acquisition is actually targeted by SCi Games - who are still recovering from last year's major restructuring, when they bought Eidos and since then have dragged the once-troubled company back to profitability.

As previously confirmed by SCi, they already had plans for further acquisitions out of a $31.5 million fund, while Empire Interactive's value is estimated at around $9 million, and the targeted publisher is thought to have turned down an $8 million offer during the talks with the other companies. We should find out where all this is heading pretty soon.

(N.B. Archive text, links removed)