BioWare’s Dungeons & Dragons Masterpiece Is Complete
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada – June 11, 2002 – Infogrames, Inc. (Nasdaq: IFGM),
a leading global publisher of interactive entertainment software, today
announced that the long awaited and highly anticipated epic, Neverwinter
Nights™, has completed development and will ship to retail stores under the
Company’s Atari label before the end of June. The most complete software
adaptation of the classic pen-and-paper Dungeons & Dragons® role-playing
game ever, Neverwinter Nights is the latest game from BioWare Corp.,
creators of the 4 million selling Baldur’s Gate series.
“Finally, PC gamers the world over can breathe – their dream computer game
is complete and only days away from their PCs,” said Jean-Philippe Agati,
senior vice president and general manager of Infogrames’ Los Angeles studio.
“Neverwinter Nights has lived up to all of its promises – engaging and
exciting single player campaign, a groundbreaking multiplayer component,
never-before-seen user editing abilities and, for the first time ever, a
true translation of the D&D® ‘Dungeon Master’ to electronic entertainment.”
Neverwinter Nights redefines the electronic role-playing game genre using
the fully-3D BioWare Aurora Engine and the Third Edition of the Dungeons &
Dragons (D&D) core rulebook, published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. The
game contains an amazing 60-100 hour single player campaign that is also
playable in multiplayer mode. More than just a game, Neverwinter Nights
breaks new ground as the first complete role-playing system for the computer
platform, allowing its players to step into the shoes of the Dungeon Master
to tell their own stories and create their own adventures in the spirit of
the exciting pen and paper original.
“We’re very proud of the hard work every member of our development team has
put into Neverwinter Nights over the last five years,” said Greg Zeschuk,
Joint CEO of BioWare Corp. and Co-Executive Producer of Neverwinter Nights.
“When we started developing Neverwinter Nights, we realized that technology
would reach the point where we could actually have a 3rd Edition Dungeons &
Dragons computer game that brought the best social elements of traditional
kitchen-table pen-and-paper role-playing to people all over the world
through their computer and the Internet. We’re very fortunate to be able to
do this.”
“Neverwinter Nights was designed to be everything anybody could ever want in
a D&D™ role-playing game,” said Ray Muzyka, Joint CEO of BioWare Corp and
Co-Executive Producer of Neverwinter Nights. “The development team – a
group of exceptionally creative, smart people - has done an amazing job:
Neverwinter Nights has an incredibly engaging 60-100 hour official campaign,
playable in either single-player or in multiplayer mode. Everything in the
campaign has been built with the same BioWare Aurora Neverwinter Toolset
that is also bundled with the game. We’ve enabled gamers to join their
friends online and play through adventure modules created by fans and
Neverwinter Nights community members, together with a dungeon master if they
so choose! The game looks amazing – the BioWare Aurora Engine is capable of
some amazing graphical effects. Overall, we just can’t wait to see what the
Neverwinter Nights community comes up with when they’ve got the game and its
powerful tools in their hands!”
The PC version of Neverwinter Nights will ship to retailers before the end
of June. Linux gamers can anticipate the online release of the Neverwinter
Nights server at launch and the client program shortly afterward. Linux
gamers will still need the Windows version of the game to register at the
Neverwinter Nights community site (http://neverwinternights.com) and to
import essential game resources into their Linux server and game.
About BioWare Corp.
BioWare Corp. is an electronic entertainment company that develops computer
and console games. Our published projects include: Shattered Steel™, the
genre-defining Baldur’s Gate™ role playing game series, MDK™2 for Dreamcast
and PC, and MDK™2: Armageddon for PlayStation®2. BioWare’s previous project,
the award winning Baldur’s Gate™ II: Throne of Bhaal, continued the RPG
leading tradition of massive story development and engaging gameplay. Throne
of Bhaal is the critically acclaimed expansion pack to Baldur’s Gate™ II
Shadows of Amn. BioWare’s developers are currently hard at work on two
titles to be released this year; Neverwinter Nights™ - a Dungeons and
Dragons® fantasy role playing game for single player and multiplayer (to be
published by Atari), and Star Wars:® Knights of the Old Republic (to be
published by LucasArts). As well, development is under way on a new,
unannounced, third project. BioWare information can be found online at
www.bioware.com.
About Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro Inc. (NYSE: HAS), is the
worldwide market share leader in the trading card game and tabletop
roleplaying game categories, a leading developer and publisher of game-based
entertainment products, as well as the owner and operator of one of the
nation’s largest specialty game retail chains. The company holds an
exclusive patent on the play mechanic of trading card games (TCGs) and
produces the world’s best-selling Pokémon® and Magic: The Gathering® TCGs;
publishes adventure games such as the classic Dungeons & Dragons®
roleplaying games, family card and board games, and electronic media
products; and is also a premier book publisher of fantasy series fiction.
Headquartered near Seattle, Washington, Wizards of the Coast has
international offices in Antwerp, Paris, Milan, London, Beijing and Syndey.
For more information, visit the Wizards of the Coast® website and electronic
retail store at wizards.com.
Wizards of the Coast, Magic: The Gathering, and DUNGEONS & DRAGONS are
registered trademarks of Wizards of the Coast Inc. Neverwinter Nights is a
trademark of Wizards of the Coast Inc. ©2002 Wizards.
Pokémon is a registered trademark of Nintendo.
About Infogrames
New York-based Infogrames, Inc. (Nasdaq: IFGM) is one of the largest
third-party publishers of interactive entertainment software in the U.S.
The Company develops video games for all consoles (Sony Computer
Entertainment of America, Nintendo and Microsoft), PCs, and Macintosh
systems. Infogrames’ catalogue of more than 1,000 titles includes
award-winning franchises such as Civilizationâ, Backyard Sportsä, Deer
HunterÒ, DriverÔ, RollerCoaster TycoonÒ, and Test DriveÒ, and key licenses
including Warner Bros. Looney TunesÔ, Nickelodeon’s Blue’s Cluesâ, Dragon
Ball ZÒ, Unrealâ, Mission ImpossibleÒ, Terminatorâ, Harley-DavidsonÒ, Major
League BaseballÒ, and the National Football LeagueÒ, among many others. The
Company’s Humongous Entertainment and MacSoft labels are leaders in children
’s and Macintosh entertainment software, respectively.
Infogrames, Inc. is a majority-owned subsidiary of France-based Infogrames
Entertainment SA (IESA) (Euronext 5257), a global publisher and distributor
of video games for all platforms. In 2001, IESA acquired Infogrames
Interactive, Inc. (formerly Hasbro Interactive), including its line of
software based on well-known licenses such as MONOPOLY, Jeopardyâ, TONKA,
and Atariâ, which are published and distributed in the U.S. by Infogrames,
Inc. For more information, visit the Company’s Web site at
www.infogrames.com.