Big Huge Games

PRESS ROOM

February 27, 2002 - Rise of Nations Announced

Today at the Microsoft® PC Games International Games Festival, Microsoft Corp. announced the development of "Rise of Nations," a new real-time strategy (RTS) game that will combine the fast action of real-time gaming with the broad scope of turn-based strategy games. Players have the option to win through military might, using everything from slingshots and cannons to stealth bombers, or they can corner the market on key commodities as they wheel and deal with a wide variety of civilizations. Unlike other historical real-time strategy games, "Rise of Nations" allows gamers to quickly play through history, from the Stone Age to the modern age.

Gaming luminary Brian Reynolds, well known for his work on "Civilization II" and "Alpha Centauri,"* is heading the game's development with his Maryland-based development company, Big Huge Games Inc.

"This is the game I've always wanted to do," Reynolds said. "I'm excited to be creating a new RTS experience that covers the breadth of history without getting bogged down in minutiae. ‘Rise of Nations' makes it easy for players to jump from the strategic to the tactical while growing their empire. Expect this to be the start of a classic new franchise."

Slated for release in spring 2003, "Rise of Nations" starts players in the Stone Age with a single village, and they can quickly advance to modern times. They can choose to expand their economy, take over as much land as possible, build a giant military machine or quickly work their way up to more advanced technologies. "Rise of Nations" will incorporate units featuring everything from elephants to heavy tanks, from zeppelins to stealth bombers, and from ballistas to howitzers. Civilizations will include diverse cultures such as the Bantu, French and Korean. Multiplayer options include the ability to wheel and deal between players, ask other players to pay tribute for your allegiance or play a game of global domination. Additional information is available at http://www.microsoft.com/games/pc/riseofnations.asp.

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^tm," 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.

The information contained in this press release relates to a prerelease software product that may be substantially modified before its first commercial release. Accordingly, the information may not accurately describe or reflect the software product when first commercially released. The press release is provided for informational purposes only, and Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to the press release or the information contained in it.

*Although designed by Brian Reynolds, the games "Civilization II" and "Alpha Centauri" were originally marketed under the "Sid Meier" brand as "Sid Meier's Civilization II" and "Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri."

Microsoft, Age of Empires, Links, MechWarrior and ZooTycoon are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Civilization is a registered trademark of Hasbro Interactive. Alpha Centauri is a registered trademark of Firaxis Games.

Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/ on Microsoft's corporate information pages. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may since have changed. Journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft's Rapid Response Team for additional assistance.