Empire Earth Ships to Retail Stores

Sierra's Hotly-Anticipated Real-Time Strategy Epic Lets Gamers Go Beyond the Ages Nov. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Sierra Entertainment, Inc. today announced that Empire Earth(TM) has begun shipping to retail stores in the United States and that shipments to the rest of the world will begin on November 16th. The new epic real-time strategy (RTS) game lets gamers take control of armies from the prehistoric ages all the way up to the near future.

"Empire Earth is the next step in the evolution of real-time strategy games," said Charles Holtzclaw, brand manager for Empire Earth. "The game's massive scope, 3-D engine, wide array of options, and depth of play are going to deliver an experience fans of the genre have been looking for since the first RTS hit the market."

Gamers anxious for their holiday gaming fix have been clamoring for Empire Earth, as witnessed by the more than 250,000 downloads of the demonstration version released via the Internet on October 19th. In addition, retail pre- orders for the game have been sky-high, thanks in part to a special program that gave gamers a chance to participate in a special beta-testing program.

"Empire Earth looks to be one of the hottest games this holiday season," said Renee Reedy, senior buyer for Electronics Boutique. "Even people who aren't hard-core gamers have been asking us about this title, and pre-orders have been much higher than expected."

Empire Earth is rated "T" for teen audiences by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), and has a suggested retail price of $49.99. More information about the game, including the free downloadable demonstration version, can be found at http://www.empireearth.com/ .

About Empire Earth
From Prehistory to the Nano Age of the 22nd Century, Empire Earth serves up gaming on an epic scale. Empire Earth is an epic real-time strategy (RTS) game that covers 500,000 years of human history, from the discovery of fire to the laser battles of the future. Each player takes control of a fledgling civilization and strives to forge the greatest of all empires. In Empire Earth, gamers control armies comprised of everything from cavemen to knights and Mustangs to Stealth Bombers.

ABOUT SIERRA
Sierra Entertainment, Inc. http://www.sierra.com , a studio of Vivendi Universal Publishing and part of its Games division, is one of the original developers and largest worldwide publishers of interactive entertainment and productivity software. Sierra is renowned for releasing critically acclaimed and award winning titles that represent a wide variety of computer entertainment on both next generation console and PC platforms.

About Vivendi Universal Publishing
Vivendi Universal Publishing (VU Publishing), the publishing division of the world's second largest communications group (Vivendi Universal), is an international leader in multi-platform publishing and content distribution. As one of the top three players in the global publishing market and the only publisher with an international reach, the Company's key content areas include literature, reference, education, games and consumer press. VU Publishing publishes content in four major languages, including English, French, Spanish and Portuguese, and has strong local publishing brands, including Anaya, Atica, Houghton Mifflin, Knowledge Adventure, Larousse, Nathan and Scipione. In the games category, VU Publishing is a leading publisher of online, PC and console-based games. Its studios include Blizzard Entertainment, Sierra Entertainment, Inc. and Universal Interactive.

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SOURCE Sierra Entertainment, Inc.