Eidos Interactive

Background: Eidos Video Technologies was founded in 1990, who took over Domark, Big Red Games, and Simis Group in 1995, merging them into Eidos Interactive. The Domark name was still used for one year after the demise. In 1996, Eidos acquired U.S. Gold along with Core Design. In 2005, SCi Group bought Eidos and adopted its name, and in 2009, the Japanese company Square Enix purchased Eidos and turned it into Square Enix Europe.

1st Logo (1995)

Logo: The word "EIDOS" in its corporate font is in blue and has light blinks on its surface. Below, we can read: "VIDEO COMPRESSION SYSTEMS".

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: This is a unique logo, because it was around the time when Eidos was still a video compression company (it developed RPL video format, used massively in its games) and had just begun to spread into gaming business. It was available on Lords of Midnight.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (1996-2002)

Logo: Many purple debris and chips move over a dark background. They come together, then disperse, then combine again into a cloud and form a light-purple "EIDOS" logo in it's corporate font, with "INTERACTIVE" below. Then the logo dissolves into fragments.

Variants: FX/SFX: The moving fragments.
 * The still white version on a black BG is seen in several games, like the first Tomb Raider (1998 Greatest Hits Release) game for PSX.
 * On some copies of Tomb Raider, the logo is blue and on a white BG.
 * On Speed Demons, the still logo is surrounded by blue light.
 * On Master of Dimensions, the logo is black on white.

Music/Sounds: Whooshing sounds, followed by a quiet synth hum and a loud explosion sound.

Availability: Seen on games from the late '90s. The animated logo has appeared on Eidos games during 2000-2001. One of the last games to have this was Wave Rally and Blood Omen 2 for the Xbox.

Editor's Note: None.

 3rd logo: (Mid-1997-2002) 

Nickname: "Letter-by-Letter Flashing"

Logo: We see a bright flash, followed by an "E" zooming out of the screen on a water-like blue background, then "I", "D", "O" and "S" coming from the top-right of the screen, each with a blue light-ray-like effect. Then, "INTERACTIVE" zooms under the word "EIDOS" while the light-rays dim out causing the light to appear behind the logo making it glow as it zooms back slowly. Then "PRESENTS" zooms under the logo with light-ray effects, dims out and glows as well. Then at the end, a bright light fills the entire screen, leaving it white, before fading to black.

Variants:
 * There is a different logo on various games. The animation at the first 10 approximate seconds is mostly the same, but there is no "PRESENTS" under the logo. There is no bright flash at the end, instead, the logo dissolves into debris. Then it cuts into a black screen a second later. Sometimes, it freezes and fades out after the animation finishes. The bright flash at the first split second is also slightly different (and it looks better).
 * On Core Design games, the logo proceeds as normal (see above), but after the logo dissolves, it fades into the word "PRESENTS" placed on a space background, and the Core Design logo proceeds. This is seen on all the PlayStation and PC Tomb Raider games (except the first one), Fighting Force 1 & 2, and other Core Design games for the PlayStation and PC. This variant was introduced on 31 October 1997 with the releases of Tomb Raider II and Fighting Force.
 * Sometimes, the background is white and the logo is clean blue and still.
 * There is a prototype variant of the logo where there is no bright flash at the beginning, and the blue water-like background is different. Plus, the logo is drastically larger, filling up almost the entire width of the screen. After the the logo forms, "PRESENTS" fades in under the logo. Then the whole logo, along with "PRESENTS", dissolves. A slowed-down and stretched version of this variant can be seen on Swagman.
 * On Conquest Earth: "First Encounter", the prototype logo fades into the Data Design Interactive logo.

FX/SFX: The bright flash, the moving letters "E-I-D-O-S", the "INTERACTIVE/PRESENTS" zooming under the logo, the bright flash at the end.

Music/Sounds: There were three known soundtracks to this logo:
 * A flashing sound, followed by a long synthesised ambient chord and five whoosh sounds. On Eidos/Core Design games, this tune is extended to transition into the Core Design logo. This is the main variant.
 * A synthesised bass chord, followed by five whoosh sounds and finally a crumbling sound. Used mostly on the "PRESENTS"-less variant.
 * A strange droning sound. This has only been spotted on Swagman, Deathtrap Dungeon, and F1 World Grand Prix: Season 1999 so far (the former using the prototype logo).

Availability: Seen on Tomb Raider games starting with Tomb Raider II (the first game, along with Fighting Force, to use the regular version of the logo), on Final Fantasy VII (PC version), Fear Effect, Thief and Thief II, among other games. By 2000, it was only on Core Design games until 2002. The prototype variant appears on Swagman, Conquest Earth: "First Encounter" and some other PC titles. One of the last games to use this logo was Thunderhawk: Operation Phoenix (a.k.a. Thunderstrike: Operation Phoenix in North America and Japan).

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo (2002-2003)

Logo: On a cloudy background with the sun in faraway, the light silver letters "E-I-D-O-S" slide one by one into the view, collecting together into a word, which rotates. The letters of "INTERACTIVE" appear below for left sideto right. The logo hangs tilted a bit, but keeps slowly rotating.

FX/SFX: The letters sliding.

Music/Sounds: Whooshing letters and rotation noise.

Availability: Seen on the games from that time, namely Praetorians, Swingerz Golf, Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen 2, Republic: The Revolution and Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness.

Editor's Note: None.

5th Logo (2 December 2003)

Logo: We seemany purple lights moving and crossing the screen. A Eidos logo zooms in from the center, where the intensity of lights is maximal. Then thebackground becomes still purple. FX/SFX: The lights. Music/Sounds: Electric-like sounds and two calm whooshes.

Availability: Used in Deus Ex: Invisible War.

Editor's Note: None.

 6th Logo (2004-2005) 

Logo: From a white water surface, the letters of "EIDOS", made of crystal, emerge one by one. The crystal point flies from the left and stops to the right of the "S". Then the logo becomes purple. Variants: Some games in late 2003-early 2004 (before the animated variant launched) had prototypes, such as:


 * Commandos 3: Destination Berlin: there's nothing more but the still logo.
 * Backyard Wrestling: Two wrestlers beat each other in front of the logo, which moves a bit.
 * Legacy of Kain: Defiance: The logo is still, but after the show, it distorts and zooms away.

FX/SFX: The logo.

Music/Sounds: Water sounds, then a sound of flowing point, and one little pimm!-like sound. Sometimes a male announcer says: EIDOS!

Availability: Seen in Thief: Deadly Shadows, Hitman Contracts, 25 to Life, Smart Bomb, Get on da Mic, and Project Snowblind.

Editor's Note: None.

 7th Logo (September 9, 2005) 

Logo: We see a zooming (possible through the sniper rifle). There is a vague spot on the screen, and the zooming regulator moves to get a clear view of this figure. We see it is an "EIDOS" logo. Then the screen turns out.

FX/SFX: The whole action.

Music/Sounds: Static digital noises.

Availability: This is a custom variant used in Conflict: Global Terror.

Editor's Note: None.

 8th Logo (2005-2009) 

Logo: Against a white background, many blue or purple chips move and zoom out to combine into the Eidos logo made in 3D. The logo hangs for a few seconds, then quickly zoom in and we fly through the letter "O".

Variant: A different logo is used on Urban Chaos: Riot Response: The logo flickers over the big concrete-like figure on background.

FX/SFX: The chips and the logo moving.

Music/Sounds: A long, fading, metallic whoosh.

Availability: Rather common. Seen on newer games by Eidos like Just Cause, Commandos: Strike Force or Shellshock 2.

Editor's Note: None.