Epic Games Releases Inoxx Map Pack

Business Wire, May 9, 2000

Business Editors/Gaming, Technology & Entertainment Writers

RALEIGH, NC--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 9, 2000

Capture the Flag and Deathmatch Maps Available

at www.unrealtournament.com

Epic Games today announced the free online availability of the Inoxx Map Pack at www.unrealtournament.com.

Later today, gamers can download six Deathmatch and Capture the Flag levels designed by Cedric "Inoxx" Fiorentino, the Unreal Tournament developer best known for his "Facing Worlds" Capture the Flag level.

"The success of Unreal Tournament and our fan's reaction has far exceeded our expectations," said Unreal Tournament designer Cliff Bleszinski. "We are committed to giving our fans additions such as the Inoxx Pack to allow them to continue their Unreal Tournament experience. Playing the original game is only half the fun when you see all the amazing levels that gamers have created."

Two of the six maps include:

Facing Worlds 2: The follow-up to the infamous Capture the Flag map that helped make Unreal Tournament a household name. Two flags. Two towers floating in space. Two teams. Too much mayhem!

Crane: A construction site is an insurance company's nightmare; it is filled to the brim with hazards. What a perfect place for deathmatch action! Players can camp out on top of enormous work cranes while sniping at the battles below or hide behind piles of girders to ambush foes. The view is breathtaking, so try to avoid falling. It's a long way down to the city streets below.

Fiorentino, a 24-year-old Epic Games level designer, lives in the south of France in a small town near Beziers. He has been designing levels for Epic for 5 years, creating some fan favorites including Unreal's Terraniux and Extreme levels, and Unreal Tournament's Facing Worlds, Phobos Moon, Hyperblast and Metaldream levels. The levels in the Inoxx pack were originally created for Unreal Tournament but were not completed by the game's November launch. Epic's Unreal Tournament has been on the top-10 charts since its release, and has already won over 10 Game Of The Year awards including the Game of the Year award from Computer Gaming World, the number one PC games magazine. Its predecessor, Unreal, was also a runaway hit, having sold more than one million copies worldwide. Because of the games' worldwide popularity and Cedric's well-known contributions, he has become a prominent part of the worldwide Unreal gaming community.

Epic Games has extensively supported the Unreal Tournament community through the release of its game editing tools and its collaborative work with outside game creators. In April, Epic posted its Bonus Pack, a free collection of new levels and characters for Unreal Tournament on CNET's Download.com. More than 320,000 gamers downloaded the Bonus Pack from the site. And in turn, the community has created over 2,200 maps for the game, some of which win kudos from Bleszinski at www.planetunreal.com/cliffyb.

Epic Games Inc, based in Raleigh, NC and established in 1991, is a developer of cutting-edge PC games. The company is best known as the creator of hit PC 3D action games Unreal, an award-winning blockbuster hit having sold more than 1 million copies, and Unreal Tournament which has been recognized as the Game of the Year by leading gaming media outlets including Computer Gaming World, the #1 PC games magazine. Epic's Unreal Engine has been licensed to several top PC game developers for games in a variety of genres. In the past Epic was well known for it's shareware games including Jill of the Jungle, Jazz Jackrabbit and Epic Pinball. Additional information can be obtained through Epic's Web site at http://www.epicgames.com