The makers of Tomb Raider began a strategic review in 2004

Eidos confirmed it has received an approach from an unnamed party, valuing it at 53 pence a share, but time is running out for a bid to be tabled.

The company needs a formal offer within two weeks to satisfy the conditions of its �23m ($44m) bank loan.

On Thursday it revealed a �26.5m ($51m) first-half operating loss.

On Wednesday its shares fell by 31% and they struggled again on Thursday, closing 0.5 pence lower at 40 pence.

The takeover offer is subject to one unspecified "principal condition" and Eidos warned there was no certainty of a firm bid.

French rival Ubisoft, Europe's third-largest video games publisher, declined to comment on reports that it was interested in bidding for Eidos.

Loan headache

The company needs a formal takeover offer to be made by 25 March in order to honour its loan agreement with its creditor, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

The first half has been a very difficult period for Eidos John van Kuffeler Check the Eidos share price

If takeover talks collapse then RBS could force Eidos to sell off assets or intellectual property rights in order to recover the loan.

The UK company began a strategic review in 2004 after issuing a profit warning, and investors have been hoping it would eventually be bought out.

Eidos said that, given its financial position, it would be recommending the takeover approach proposal to shareholders if a formal offer was made.

"The first half has been a very difficult period for Eidos," said chairman John van Kuffeler.

"This has been exacerbated by the deferral of the PC version of Championship Manager 5 as anticipated, and the disappointing performance of some of the other titles released."

Hopes of a second-half revival in its fortunes have been dampened by delays to the release of the new Hitman and Tomb Raider series.

On the positive side, the company was happy with the performance of its ShellShock: Nam '67 game, with good reviews received for Project: Snowblind.