CHAPEL HILL, NC – April 10, 2007 – Merscom announced today The Ship is now available in most North American retail stores. Winner of IGN’s 2006 “Most Innovative Design” award and voted one of Firing Squad’s “Top 5” games of 2006, The Ship will retail for $19.99 (USD).

The Ship blends traditional first and third person gameplay with a Sims-style day-to-day needs system including food, sleep and social interaction. An intriguing game featuring exploration, investigation, survival, stealth, and murder, The Ship is set on beautifully crafted decking and highly polished interactive environments.

The Ship is one of the most remarkable games we’ve released,” said Lloyd Melnick, Director of Merscom. “The game is extraordinarily well-crafted and we are confident it will provide players with entertainment for weeks on end.”

The core of The Ship’s gameplay lies in “the Hunt.” Each player given the name of another passenger and is required to hunt down and kill him or her with any weapon they can find, all the while avoiding security or getting killed by their own hunter. Depending on the game mode, the winner is either the last hunter alive or the one with the most money in his bank account.

In order to be a successful hunter, it is necessary for players to know their way around all of the liners, each of which has its own secrets. Among such secret features are extra weapons, hidden rooms, passages and tunnels, “extra special” ways of murdering foes, and environmental traps.

“Since the The Ship was released on Steam in July, the game has been overwhelmingly well-received,” said Chris Peck, Managing Director of Outerlight. “We are thrilled to be working with Merscom to bring our flagship title to our North American fans and we believe that our partnership with Merscom will successfully bring the game to an even broader audience.”

For more information on The Ship please visit http://www.theshiponline.com