LADYDRAGON.COM - "Dungeon Siege" Takes Players on the Ultimate Adventure Microsoft and Gaming Visionary Chris Taylor Deliver the Highly Anticipated "Dungeon Siege"

Monday April 08, 2002

"Dungeon Siege" Takes Players on the Ultimate Adventure Microsoft and Gaming Visionary Chris Taylor Deliver the Highly Anticipated "Dungeon Siege"

Microsoft Corp. today announced that the breakthrough role-playing game (RPG) "Dungeon Siege" is on store shelves.

"Dungeon Siege," developed by Gas Powered Games and Surrey, B.C. native Chris Taylor, creator oftheaward-winning "Total Annihilation," is one of the most highly-anticipated games of 2002.

Combining the strongest elements of fantasy role-playing with over-the-top intensity and non-stop action, "Dungeon Siege" features advanced graphics technology that showcases a lush 3-D world with unprecedented realism and handcrafted detail. From a flourishing, vibrant forest to a deep, subterranean cavern, "Dungeon Siege" allows players to journey through breathtaking landscapes in a completely seamless world. Players are never removed from their immersion in the game to stop and watch a loading screen.

"All of us here at Gas Powered Games have been looking forward to this day for a long time, and we are thrilled to finally see the game on store shelves," said Chris Taylor, Gas Powered Games president and founder, and lead designer of "Dungeon Siege." "I want to thank everyone for the continuous support, and all of the kind words this last year as we pressed toward the finish line. We do sincerely hope that everyone enjoys the game and has as much fun playing as we did making it."

"Dungeon Siege" is the first title developed by Gas Powered Games in partnership with Microsoft Game Studios. The game is so highly anticipated and well received that gamers are already asking about sequels and add-ons.

"With 'Dungeon Siege,' Chris Taylor and Gas Powered Games have realized their dream of creating a beautiful, challenging and seamless world to game in," said Lisa Webber, marketing manager of Microsoft Home and Retail Division. "This title furthers Microsoft's strategy to expand into new categories with strong triple-A titles that provide players with fun gameplay experiences."

Players explore the world of "Dungeon Siege" with parties of up to eight characters. Beginning as a humble farmer, players join forces with additional characters as they embark on the single-player campaign.

Players can use their strength to become a mighty fighter, journey as a nimble archer or develop their mental prowess and become a powerful magic caster. They can also step into highly engrossing, visually spectacular battles with a choice of more than 1,000 different types of weapons and armor and more than 100 kinds of spells.

"Dungeon Siege" offers players innovative multi-player experiences. In addition to allowing players to replay the single-player campaign in the multi-player mode, "Dungeon Siege" invites players to enter a completely separate multi-player world, the Utraean Peninsula, which is nearly twice the size of its single-player counterpart. The vastness of the Utraean Peninsula, along with all new quests and adventures, provides players with nearly endless gameplay.

Utilizing "Dungeon Siege's" multi-player system, up to eight gamers can join together to play, explore and battle via ZoneMatch, the Internet or a local area network (LAN).

"Dungeon Siege" will also offer a revolutionary game design tool, the "Siege Editor," which will be available shortly after the game's release.

The "Siege Editor" will enable players to create completely new, adventure-filled worlds for endless numbers of battles. It will give players the freedom to rework many aspects of the game, making "Dungeon Siege" not only a game, but a role-playing platform for those who want to create their own dungeons, spells, AI and story sequences to share with other players.

http://www.microsoft.com/games/dungeonsiege

"Dungeon Siege" is now available in stores or on the internet at http://shop.microsoft.com for an estimated retail price of $49.95 and runs on PCs with Microsoft® Windows® 98, Me, 2000 or XP operating systems.

About Gas Powered Games

Gas Powered Games was founded in May 1998 by Chris Taylor, creator of the award-winning "Total Annihilation." Located in Kirkland, Wash., Gas Powered Games is staffed by top talent and is devoted to creating immersive, cutting-edge games that push technological boundaries.

About the Microsoft PC Games Group

The Microsoft PC Games group, part of Microsoft Game Studios, comprises many of the industry's top development studios. Committed to publishing a diverse PC games portfolio, Microsoft Game Studios develops, publishes and distributes such award-winning franchises as "Flight Simulator," "Age of Empires®," "Links®," "MechWarrior®" and "Zoo Tycoon™," as well as original titles across all genres. More information is available at http://www.microsoft.com/games

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software — any time, any place and on any device.