Montreal, Quebec. September 17, 2002 – Strategy First, Playnet and Cornered Rat Software announced today that they will be bringing the World War II Online game experience to a new audience: Mac addicts.

“We are thrilled to be bringing this unique gaming experience to all those Mac gamers out there,” says Steve Milburn, Director of Marketing at Strategy First. “Now a whole new audience will be joining the virtual battlefield, adding even more excitement to the game.”

World War II Online Mac Edition is an online combined arms simulation set in a relentless, action-packed environment where players can command and crew a variety of accurately modeled vehicles and aircraft, sling weapons, and fight as foot soldiers with and against thousands of other gamers.  Set in the early war years, it includes equipment and major battle points: strongholds, fortresses, forests, rivers and more – much as it was on the battlefields of Europe.

WWII Online is still the first and only massively multiplayer first-person virtual battlefield that covers a ½ scale map of Europe with accurate terrain modeling.  It allows thousands of players to fight 24/7 in a persistent world in which character advancement and career paths provide a rich RPG layer, and strategic systems are driven by player missions and command structures.  An extensive web-based player services package provided by www.playnet.com is integrated with gameplay. Players from around the world can take part in creating new history while fighting on the battlefields and in the skies of Europe.

“Our development team has worked to ensure that gameplay is identical across all platforms and we’re excited to welcome fresh recruits to the battle,” says Al Corey, Executive Producer at Playnet. “The response by the Mac community to our beta tests showed us that the Mac community has been waiting a long time for a MMOG like WWII Online and we’re ready for them”.

World War II Online Mac Edition also contains special bonus items, such as a large foldout wall map of the game world, the official music track, and 20 original illustrations and wallpapers inspired by the game. 

World War II Online Mac Edition will be distributed throughout North America exclusively by Infogrames and is set to ship in early November.

About Playnet

Playnet Inc. is an Internet technologies company that specializes in design and development of massively multi-player online games (MMOG) at its in-house software development studio, Cornered Rat Software (CRS); and through its Playnet.com  division operates an independent Internet-based online publishing center and interactive entertainment destination website, Playnet.com  that offers dynamic and customizable global delivery of a channelized line up of e-content, games, and advertising products through its own web sites and dozens of affiliated game and content sites. Established in April of 1999 and located in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area of Texas, Playnet publishes online titles World War II Online, Wildcards and DarkSpace.

About Strategy First

Strategy First Inc. is a leading worldwide developer and publisher of entertainment software.  Established in 1991 and headquartered in historic “Old Montreal”, Strategy First has become one of the largest publishers of PC CD-ROM games in Canada. After acquiring Micomeq, a game developer located in St. Jérôme, QC., and retaining talent from Midnight Software, an award-winning development team from Ottawa, ON., Strategy First is poised to become a major force in the gaming industry. Best known for its Man of War series and Disciples: Sacred Lands, the company has also earned critical acclaim for its work on such titles as Steel Panthers I and II and Age of Rifles for Strategic Simulations Inc.  Strategy First has worked with other leading companies in the software and entertainment industry; most notably, A&E Network, Lucas Arts, Cinar Films, Empire Interactive, and Strategic Simulations Inc.