Atari announces the preorder program for Neverwinter Nights 2, saying early adopters of the D&D RPG sequel will have access to the NWN2 toolset a month before the game is available as well as access to powerful crafted items by way of a special feature:

NEW YORK, NY, September 11, 2006 – Atari, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATAR), one of the world’s most recognized brands and leading third-party video game publisher, today announced that the Company will support a pre-order campaign for Neverwinter Nights™ 2 with Gamestop and Best Buy. In development by Obsidian Entertainment, the highly-anticipated Neverwinter Nights 2 is set in the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® Forgotten Realms® universe created by Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS), and will transport players back to the embattled city of Neverwinter. DUNGEONS & DRAGONS is under license from the Hasbro Properties Group, the intellectual property development arm of Hasbro. The pre-order offer is available now and will give participating gamers exclusive access to the Neverwinter Nights 2 toolset one month before the game is available. Additionally, the pre-order offer will include The Merchant’s Friend, a special feature enabling players to obtain powerful items crafted especially for each of the 12 classes.

“The Neverwinter Nights 2 toolset is groundbreaking software that provides players with unprecedented ability to create their own universes, quests and storylines” said Stephen Baer, Senior Product Manager, Atari, Inc. “The Neverwinter Nights 2 community has been extremely supportive of the upcoming game and with this pre-order offer we hope to reward those who are particularly excited to experience the next installment of the Neverwinter epic tale.”

“Atari has certainly set the stage for a very exciting Neverwinter Nights 2 launch,” said Hasbro Properties Group Senior Licensing Manager Jerry Chu. “The pre-sell toolset gives the millions of fanatic Neverwinter Nights players a jump start on the next epic tale and the keys to create new storylines with limitless quests and endings. The level of customized mods will be phenomenal.”

The Neverwinter Nights franchise has sold more than two million copies worldwide, is translated into 10 languages, sold in more than 40 countries and features one of the largest and most active fan communities in all of gaming. To date, fans of the franchise, which includes Neverwinter Nights, Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide™ and Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark™, have created nearly 4,000 modifications to the original game using the original, award-winning Aurora Toolset. A more robust toolset will be included with the release of Neverwinter Nights 2.

Neverwinter Nights 2 is scheduled for release in October 2006. More information about Neverwinter Nights 2 can be found at www.nwn2.com, which includes user forums, project news, development updates and more.