Tribes 2 World Championships Bring World's Best Action Gamers Together Online in Sport of the Future Competition Begins February 25th to Crown Earth's Top Tribes 2 Team

BELLEVUE, WA (February 20, 2002) - Sierra Entertainment, Inc., a studio of Vivendi Universal Publishing, today announced that the Tribes(tm) 2 World Championships begin on February 25th, 2002. Organized by the Team Sportscast Network, PlanetTribes.com, TribalWar.com, and Euro-TribesPlayers.com, the second-annual worldwide competition will match up over 400 players on 16 teams over 100 days in an online battle royale to determine the best action gamers on the planet.

"Tribes 2 World Championship is an amazing example of what a strong and active game community can accomplish," said Alex Rodberg, Tribes brand manager at Sierra. "This will be a momentous event, and I cannot wait to see which country will take home the cup."

In what is quickly becoming a true "sport of the future," the road to the Tribes 2 World Championships began in September 2001, when team captains were chosen among the Tribes 2 community's best and brightest leaders. Team captains then recruited up to 30 players to represent their countries at the World Championship. In championship games, up to 16 players per team will compete head-to-head, for a total of 32 players per match, demonstrating Tribes 2's epic multiplayer online combat.

"Tribes 2's focus on team-based multiplayer combat makes it a perfect platform for a new sport and a tournament of this magnitude," said Brian "Mega Boris" Nakash of the Team Sportscast Network. "The best players know that they're not going to win unless they act like a real team. Effective plays, strategies, and communication will be the key."

The 16 teams created represent nearly the entire gaming world and include representatives from: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Scotland, Singapore, South Korean, Sweden, Taiwan, United States, and Wales.

Tribes 2 was released in March, 2001 and has sold over 500,000 copies worldwide. Tribes 2 inserts gamers into breathtaking worlds where brainpower and teamwork are the only true keys to survival. Players can join an existing Tribe, start one of their own, or enlist in a new race added for Tribes 2: the BioDerm Horde. With unprecedented innovations in teamplay and tactical warfare, Tribes 2 summons both intellect and gaming prowess in unimaginable ways.

About the Organizers

Tribalwar, the leading independent American Tribes franchise game site, is proud to be a part of the Tribes 2 World Championship. Built by Tribes players for Tribes players, Tribalwar has been the home of the game's community for over two years. Providing hosting, forums, news, and now part of the Tribes World Championship, Tribalwar strives to be the internet's premier Tribes site.

About Sierra

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, The Flipside Network, Sierra and Universal Interactive.