AUGUST 10, 2001

AMERICAN AND CANADIAN CONQUERORS: SIGN UP NOW FOR A CHANCE TO WIN $50,000

Age Of Empires II: The Conquerors International Tournament Begins Play August 16

Gamers from the United States and Canada who hope to cash in on the $50,000 grand prize are reminded to sign up for The Conquerors Tournament before August 15 (USA) and August 16 (Canada). The US tournament gets underway next Thursday, August 16 at 5 p.m. PDT. The Canadian tournament begins the next day, August 17, at 2 p.m. PDT. Registration for United Kingdom gamers opens on Wednesday, August 15. The official rules and country-specific information are now available on the official tournament page at http://zone.msn.com/conquerors/a2xpworldtourney.asp.

Each match will be played using the following game settings:
• Game: Random Map
• Map Style: Standard
• Location: Continental
• Resources: Low
• Difficulty: Standard
• Population Limit: 200
• Starting Age: Dark Age
• Victory Condition: Standard
• Map Size: Tiny
• Reveal Map: Normal
• Game Speed: Normal
• Lock Teams: Enable
• Cheats: Disable
• All Tech: Disable
• Record Game: Enable

Fifteen countries/regions will hold individual tournaments via the MSN Gaming Zone (http://www.zone.com), LAN events, or local partners in August and September 2001. Each country/region will crown a national champion who will receive prize money and represent their home country or region in the world finals. Each of the finalists will be sent to compete in the world finals in Redmond, Washington on October 24, 2001, which will be hosted by Ensemble Studios' legendary game designer Bruce Shelley, among others. The overall value of all cash prizes is over $100,000, with the winner of the competition taking home $50,000.

Age of Empires is one of the most successful strategy game franchises in history, having sold over eight million units worldwide. The series, developed by Ensemble Studios, has received numerous awards including AIAS Strategy Game of the Year awards for Age of Empires, Age of Empires II: Age of Kings, and The Conquerors Expansion; as well as the prestigious AIAS PC Game of the Year for Age of Empires II: Age of Kings. Age of Empires II: The Conquerors Expansion challenges gamers to wage war on an epic scale with all-new civilizations, unique units and technologies, and campaigns based on infamous conquerors such as Attila the Hun, El Cid and Montezuma.

More information about the Conquerors Expansion is available on the game's official site at http://www.microsoft.com/games/conquerors/, or on the Ensemble Studios site at http://www.ensemblestudios.com/.

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Steve Cherrier Arbuthnot Communications, Inc. 9000 W. Sunset Blvd, Suite 1010 West Hollywood, CA 90069

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