Phil Rogers, the chief executive of SCi Entertainment, the beleaguered computer games maker, has promised to restore the company to profit after he announced plans to raise £60 million in a rescue from a sceptical City.

The company has raised the cash with the support of Time Warner and Robert Tchenguiz, its two largest shareholders, but there was no role for NBC Universal, the American media group, which had been interested in taking a stake.

“All day we've been asked by investors how we'll get it right this time,” Mr Rogers said, noting that the company would aim to concentrate on its core franchises, Tomb Raider, Championship Manager and Hitman, and develop online versions of new and old games.

SCi and its principal predecessor Eidos has run into trouble over the past five years amid delayed and disappointing game releases.

Still Britain's only significant independent computer games group, the company has slipped far down the world rankings in the wake of the difficulties.

A loss is expected in the current financial year to the end of June, but by raising the cash - whose proceeds drop to £50 million after fees - the business has enough money to support it before crucial releases this year. Mr Rogers said that SCi would return to profit the year after.

The most important upcoming release is Tomb Raider: Underworld, which is scheduled to be ready for all big hardware platforms in the run-up to Christmas. Few details about the game have been released.

Mr Rogers said he believed that Lara Croft, the Tomb Raider protagonist, was well suited to the new era of “geek-free” gaming, as typified by the emergence of the Nintendo Wii, which has brought women into computer gaming with its motion-sensing remote control.

“Lara is a classic action-adventure, puzzle-solving hero,” he said, “and we've already shown in Tomb Raider: Anniversary that we can use the Wii remote to simulate an archaeological dig.”

The chief executive played down the failure to recruit NBC Universal as an investor, saying, “We have a great partner in Time Warner.”

Time Warner will commit up to £15 million, the same amount as Mr Tchenguiz, and in return SCi will strike an extended deal to distribute its games in North America, with Time Warner providing marketing as well as logistical support.

The shares tumbled 16 per cent as investors digested the terms of the fundraising. SCi is raising the money by offering shares at 35p each, a 37.5 per cent discount to the previous day's closing price.

The deeply discounted placing and open offer - the company will issue shares that will amount to two thirds of the enlarged group - sent SCi's shares down by 9p to 47p.

Before the fundraising, Mr Tchenguiz held shares and options amounting to 15.4 per cent of the company.

Time Warner's stake was 10.2 per cent, stemming from a previous distribution deal struck with the company, part of an exercise by the American group to boost its presence in the computer games market.

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