Horizons: Empire of Istaria - BETA TEST IS NOW LIVE!
LONDON, 6th October 2003 – Atari and Game Network are proud to announce that the award winning Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game 'Horizons Empire of Istaria' has now entered the European Beta phase of its development. Horizons aims to redefine the genre, taking it to new levels, offering superior graphics and a new way to 'experience' interactive gaming.

By benbik
Posted Monday, October 6, 2003

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HORIZONS EUROPEAN BETA TEST IS NOW LIVE!

LONDON, 6th October 2003 – Atari and Game Network are proud to announce that the award winning Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game 'Horizons Empire of Istaria' has now entered the European Beta phase of its development. Horizons aims to redefine the genre, taking it to new levels, offering superior graphics and a new way to 'experience' interactive gaming.

By visiting the game's newly created European website http://www.europe.istaria.com) gamers will be given the chance to experience the game that IGN Vault website awarded 'Best of E3 2003'.

Game Network, a 'Digital Bros' company, will be taking a key role in the launch and maintenance of this exciting title. The company will be producing regular television programming for the game as well as providing Customer Support in English, French, German and Italian with further languages supported at a later date.

The sign-up of the Beta has started, go to www.betatests.net and register now! Don't miss the opportunity of being one of the selected players to gain access to the European Beta test.

Horizons Game:

'Horizons' take place in the world of Istaria with huge environments which include cities, towns, castles, strongholds, villages and mystical structures. The environments range from tropical jungles and arctic tundra to windswept plains and mountainous wilderness.

'Horizons' gives the player the true freedom to explore these environments working as part of a team or deciding to play alone creating their own story. Choose from nine playable races which include Humans, Dwarves, Elves, and for the first time in an online multiplayer adventure play as the mighty Dragon!

ABOUT ATARI:

ATARI is a major international producer, publisher and distributor of interactive games for consoles (Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony), and PC CD-ROMs,

ATARI is a global publisher of interactive games for the whole family, with a catalog that includes popular franchises (Driver, Alone in the Dark, V-Rally, Unreal Tournament, Test Drive, Roller Coaster Tycoon) and many international licenses (Paramount's Mission : Impossible, Men in Black, Superman, Matrix, Terminator and Dragon Ball Z...).

The Atari games are distributed in about 60 countries world-wide with a particular strength in Europe and the U.S., where the Group led by Bruno Bonnell possesses an outstanding distribution network.

Infogrames Entertainment SA, ATARI Group's holding, is listed on the Paris Stock Exchange (sicovam code: 5257).

ATARI Inc., the ATARI Group's American subsidiary, is listed on the Nasdaq market, (ticker ATAR).

Further information available at http://www.atari.com

GAME NETWORK:

Game Network is a satellite free to air TV channel exclusively dedicated to video games. Game Network is broadcast in UK and included in Bskyb, in addition to more than 55 nations from Europe and Middle East and has an average of 610,000 distinct viewers a week, in UK territory alone.

Product Description:

Artifact Entertainment's Horizons: Empire of Istaria is one of the most closely-followed and highly-anticipated massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPG) in years. Currently in development for the PC, Horizons will allow players to experience online gaming like never before in a single massive online world primed for exploration, brimming with adventure and rife with danger.

Horizons takes place within the world of Istaria - filled with cities and towns, castles and strongholds, villages and mystical structures, in environments ranging from tropical jungle and arctic tundra to windswept plains and mountainous wilderness. Whether adventuring by themselves or questing with a group of friends, players are free to choose their own path and encouraged to create their own stories. Fierce warriors, arcane spell casters and challenging combat will rule the frontier lands, but skilled craftspeople will play an absolutely critical role in overall character and world development.

Horizons will be available for PC CD-ROM Fall 2003. Additional information about Horizons can be found online at www.istaria.com, which features Istaria history and lore, character race and skill information, downloadable and streaming game play movies, screenshots and much more.

Game Features:

Nine playable character races will be available when Horizons launches this Fall; Humans, Dwarves, Elves, Fiends and yes -- Dragons are among them.

Each player character can be further customized with a near endless variety of visual tweaks, including gender, ethnicity, age, skin color, body and facial types, hair styles and color as well as wings, horns and other exotic alterations associated with select species.

In Horizons, players will be able to select from a number of base adventuring schools such as, Warrior, Healer, Wizard and Scout as well as base crafting schools, including Blacksmith, Gatherer, Outfitter and Scholar.

Guilds and player communities have become the lifeblood of today's MMORPG and Horizons will revolutionize support for these critical game play elements with a number of new and innovative features as well as refined and improved approaches.

Friends and guild mates can cooperate to build frontier towns, bustling merchant communities or even mighty defensive castles along the borderlands.