Microsoft today announced that MechCommander 2, the highly anticipated real-time tactical game of mechanized combat, has gone gold and is expected to hit store shelves in mid-July. MechCommander 2 offers players a real-time game of power, combat, and treachery set in the BattleTech® universe. Players must use their strategic knowledge and tactical skills to change the balance of power in a region of space known as the Chaos March.

MechCommander 2 gives gamers more than amazing gameplay -- it draws them into the rich, 16-year history of the BattleTech Universe. Players will be immersed in intense tactical gameplay, simultaneously commanding up to 16 enormous BattleMechs in real-time combat, where outsmarting the enemy is their key to victory. MechCommander 2 is fully 3D, with state-of-the-art terrain that can be maneuvered to the gamer's advantage. Players can knock down trees, blow through walls, jump jet onto cliffs and step on things standing in their way to victory!

While a lone MechWarrior can wield up to 100 tons of "Mechanized" death, the MechCommander rules the battlefield from above, imposing his strategic will and mastering all he surveys. When he issues an order to jump, MechWarriors obey. When something needs to be destroyed, the MechCommander need only finger the target. He rules the battlefield with an iron fist, commanding his units from the orbital dropship.

MechCommander 2 will also include full support for Internet play, with matchmaking available on Zone.com (http://www.zone.com/). For more information on the game, visit: http://www.microsoft.com/games/mechcommander2/