Cyberbabe Lara Croft was at the centre of a takeover tug-of-war last night after two bids were tabled for her London-based creator.

Shares in Eidos rocketed 26 per cent after rival computer games maker SCi Entertainment stepped in with a £76.1m offer to trump an earlier recommended bid from a private US equity group.

Eidos directors last night gave their blessing to a £71m bid by Elevation Partners, which includes U2 frontman Bono among its directors.

But this stance was not supported by investment bank Schroders, the largest investor in Eidos, which has lined up its near-20 per cent shareholding behind the SCi bid.

The developments prolong eight months of uncertainty over the future of Eidos, which warned last week that a formal takeover offer had to be made by Good Friday to satisfy the terms of a new £23m loan from The Royal Bank of Scotland.

Best known for the Tomb Raider series, Eidos fell into the red by £29m at the half-year stage and uncertainty over its future has led to some key members of staff quitting.

Elevation, which was formed last year to invest in the media and entertainment industries, is offering 50p per share to take Eidos private and free it from "the burden of half-yearly reporting".

In contrast, SCi Entertainment is offering investors one new SCi share for every six of their shares in Eidos, which would be valued at about 53.6p each. Eidos believes it is too small to stay independent and its results have hinged on the performance of a handful of key titles.