It appears Eidos Interactive had some serious expectations for its recently released Tomb Raider: Underworld. Developed by Crystal Dynamics, the UK publisher has confirmed that the latest entry into the franchise has only sold 1.5 million copies since the end of the year. Since then, the publisher has decreased its earning expectations for the fiscal year, from $273-303 million down to $242-273 million.

Following the announcement, Eidos’ stock has plummeted by 30 percent. “In a difficult North American economy we have seen retailers restricting inventory levels and triple-A products being price discounted above our expectation,” the publisher stated as reported by Edge.

You’d think 1.5 million copies sold, especially in this economy, would be a good amount, but it shouldn’t be forgotten that Eidos released Underworld across all the major platforms.

Update: And to make things worse, Crystal Dynamics is apparently making staff cuts, if Kotaku’s sources are to be believed, and has laid off 30 people across the board.

Update 2: The layoffs of approximately 30 employees has been confirmed. “We have increased the focus on the Tomb Raider franchise at Crystal Dynamics, regrettably this has resulted in the reduction in headcount,” said an Eidos spokesperson.