"The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" For PlayStation®2 Ships To Retailers Nationwide

LOS ANGELES, Calif., October 15, 2002—Black Label Games, a studio of the Games division of Vivendi Universal Publishing (VU Games), announced today that it has shipped "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring™" for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system to retailers nationwide.

The title is published as part of VU Games' exclusive, long-term agreement with Tolkien Enterprises to develop interactive entertainment based on J.R.R. Tolkien's novel "The Lord of the Rings" for multiple next-generation and PC platforms. The content of "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" for PlayStation®2 derives from the "The Fellowship of the Ring," the first installment of Tolkien's best-selling, world-renowned literary epic. Black Label Games also plans to publish the title for PC in October 2002.

Developed by Seattle-based Surreal Software, "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" for PlayStation®2 is a third-person, action-adventure title featuring three members of the Fellowship—Frodo, Aragorn and Gandalf—as playable characters with unique abilities. In a storyline faithful to Tolkien's masterpiece, players perfect stealth moves as Frodo, combat fierce enemies as Aragorn and cast spells as Gandalf as they journey from the peaceful Shire through the dark depths of Moria all the way to the River Anduin. Orcs, Black Riders, the Balrog and more than 20 other types of formidable enemies stand in their way in this first leg of the quest to destroy the fabled One Ring of Power.

"'The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring' offers PS®2 gamers and Tolkien fans a sophisticated combat system as well as numerous opportunities to interact with other members of the Fellowship as they explore the seamless environments of Middle-earth," said Torrie Dorrell, General Manager of Black Label Games. "The title represents the hard work of talented creative and technical teams dedicated to transforming a literary epic into an engaging and quality interactive entertainment experience."

"We are thrilled to finally share our vision of Middle-earth with Tolkien's fans and adventure gaming aficionados worldwide," said Vijay Lakshman, Vice President of Production, Online Games, at Black Label Games. "This game is one of the first releases in a long line of rich, diverse products that will explore the enchanting and complex world of Tolkien across multiple genres and gaming platforms in the years to come."

About Black Label Games

Black Label Games is a studio of the Games division of Vivendi Universal Publishing, and is focused on developing titles based on original intellectual properties as well as content licensed from external strategic partners. Black Label Games' title line-up includes "The Thing," the critically-acclaimed action/survival-horror game, a sequel to John Carpenter's 1982 cult classic movie of the same name, "Enclave" for the Xbox™ video game system from Microsoft, and "Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter," for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, Nintendo GameCube™ and the Xbox™ video game system from Microsoft. The unit is also releasing games based on the great 20th century literary epic, J.R.R. Tolkien's worldwide best-selling saga "The Lord of the Rings," as part of Vivendi Universal Games' long-term agreement with Tolkien Enterprises.