Eidos today announced that Tomb Raider: Underworld has sold 1.5 million units worldwide. The British publisher revealed that this is below internal expectations, despite charting in the top 10 for several weeks after launch in certain European countries. Eidos put the blame squarely on the North American market, claiming retailers restricted inventory levels during the tough economy, though we theorize that the market may have been over-saturated.

"As we enter the second half of our financial year we are cautious about the potential for ongoing price discounting," Eidos noted in a release. "We have therefore revised our sales assumptions for Tomb Raider: Underworld and other products to be released and estimate our full year revenue will now be in the range of 160 million – 180 million pounds compared to our previous guidance of 180 million - 200 million pounds. We have passed our peak net debt position and we retain sufficient headroom within our committed banking facility but given revised profit expectations we may need to enter into discussions with our lending bank regarding our June 2009 covenants."

For 2009, Eidos is anticipating the returns from Batman: Arkham Asylum. The game was recently cross promoted on the DVDs of The Dark Knight.