Wolfpack Studios Inc. Reveals Details of Large-Scale Strategy System in Online Roleplaying Game, `Shadowbane'

Business Wire, Dec 9, 1999

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 9, 1999--

Wolfpack Studios Inc., a startup firm devoted to the production of large-scale Internet games, revealed for the first time today detailed plans for their upcoming title, 'Shadowbane,' unveiling an entirely new concept in online gaming.

In a market populated by less than a handful of titles, Wolfpack Studios Inc. is touting a new style of game play, created through the coupling of two distinct game concepts -- Roleplaying and Large-Scale Strategy games -- into one cohesive whole.

Roleplaying games, a staple of the gaming industry for years, typically focus around a single character or small group of characters exploring the world in search of treasure and adventure. Strategy games, on the other hand, center on commanding troops and acquiring territories, and players take on the roles of generals and nobles to make decisions that impact the entire world.

This design adds a large-scale warfare system on top of the fully functional Roleplaying game -- allowing the more strategic-minded players to bind together and vie for control of territories within the online world. In a massively multi-user setting, this twist gives rise to a whole new realm of game play -- guild politics and siege warfare.

"It's an interesting hybrid of two very distinct genres. At its core, it's still a roleplaying game -- but on top of that foundation we've added elements typically common to strategy games, such as creating factions, defending castles, tactical formations, and the expansion of territories," explains Josef Hall, Wolfpack's Founder and President.

This represents a marked departure from standard design, as the few Persistent World titles currently in production have concentrated on supporting the Roleplaying game model only. In addition to being able to support tens (or potentially hundreds) of thousands of players within the same 3D universe at once, Shadowbane will provide, for the first time, an in-game mechanism whereby groups of players can come together to amass armies and build Kingdoms.

"It's really a game within a game," explains Todd Coleman, Wolfpack's Vice President of Sales and Marketing. "Typically, players 'max out' games like these over the course of a few months, and start asking the question, 'What next?' Now we've given them something to strive for beyond simple character advancement. For the first time, the players themselves will actually determine the future of the virtual world."

Patrick Blanton, Vice President of Design and lead designer of Shadowbane, explains in more detail. "We've engineered the game such that it can be played on two levels. Players can adventure, fight monsters, find treasure and gain in level and prestige -- or they can advance beyond that and form Kingdoms, or try to conquer the World."

About Wolfpack Studios Inc.

Founded in early 1999, Wolfpack Studios Inc. is a startup firm dedicated to servicing the burgeoning Internet Gaming marketplace. Dedicated to pushing the boundaries of Internet technology, the company develops products and services for a worldwide customer base with the mission of establishing a new standard in the areas of virtual 3D environments and persistent world gaming.

For information on Wolfpack Studios' upcoming titles, please visit the company's World Wide Web site at http://www.wolfpackstudios.com. For details on the concept of Large Scale strategy within an Online RPG, see the page titled 'Warfare' at http://www.shadowbane.com.