SIERRA AND IMPRESSIONS GAMES EXPAND THEIR CITY BUILDING EMPIRE WITH EMPEROR: RISE OF THE MIDDLE KINGDOM

New Addition to Award-Winning City-Building Series Lets Gamers Build and Rule Cities Online

BELLEVUE, WA (September 10, 2002) - Sierra Entertainment, Inc., a studio of the Games division of Vivendi Universal Publishing, and Impressions Games today announced that their new city-building game, Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom(tm), has shipped to retail stores nationwide.  Developed by Breakaway Games Ltd., Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom takes aspiring city governors to ancient China, adding several revolutionary features, including local area network (LAN) and Internet multiplayer gameplay, a first in the city-building genre.

The Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom game is rated "E" for everyone by the Entertainment Software Rating Board, and carries a suggested retail price of $39.99.

The Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom game offers gamers their first opportunity to play a city building game with their friends, online via the Internet or LAN.  A variety of both collaborative and competitive multiplayer games will be offered.  Players may need to collaborate in building one of China's engineering marvels, or they may share a common goal to attain a certain level of affluence.  In competitive multiplay, players take sides - or may be a side unto themselves - and fight for sole power over China. 

The Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom game brings city builders inside the Great Wall of China.  Leaving the Mediterranean behind, the city-building series makes its first foray into Asia and immerses the player in brand new surroundings.  China has existed for over 4,000 years, but its 4,000 year history has been marked with new technologies and ideas replacing - or enhancing - the old.  This is the world in which the player will take the reigns of leadership and take their cities through the twists and turns of Chinese history.

About Impressions Games

Impressions Games, a games development studio owned by Sierra Entertainment, Inc., has been a leading developer of strategy games for over ten years, with offices in Cambridge, MA. Impressions Games has created some of the most innovative, best-selling titles in the interactive entertainment industry, including the Lords of the Realm(r) series, Lords of Magic(r), Robert E. Lee: Civil War General™, Civil War Generals 2: Grant, Lee, Sherman™, and the Impressions' City Building Series(tm) which is comprised of  the Caesar(tm) line of games, Pharaoh(tm), Pharaoh Official Expansion: Cleopatra(tm), Zeus: Master of Olympus(tm), and Poseidon(tm).  More information can be found at http://www.impressionsgames.com.

About Breakaway Games Ltd.

BreakAway designs and develops retail and online games for all platforms with an emphasis on strategy, sports and historical simulations. The company also develops proprietary military simulations for the Department of Defense and others.  Founded in 1998 by industry veteran Doug Whatley, the company has developed the critically acclaimed titles "Pharoah Official Expansion: Cleopatra," "Tropico: Paradise Island," "Waterloo: Napoleon's Last Battle," and "Sid Meier's Antietam," among others.  For more information about BreakAway Games, please visit http://www.breakawaygames.com/

About Sierra Entertainment, Inc.

Sierra, http://www.sierra.com,  a studio of the Games division of Vivendi Universal Publishing, is one of the original developers and largest worldwide publishers of interactive entertainment software. Based in Bellevue, Washington, Sierra is renowned for releasing critically acclaimed and award winning titles that represent a wide variety of computer entertainment on game consoles and PC platforms.