VIVENDI UNIVERSAL GAMES ANNOUNCES THIRD FACTION FOR GROUND CONTROL® II: OPERATION EXODUS

LOS ANGELES, CA (December 22, 2004) - Vivendi Universal Games and Massive Entertainment today unveiled the third faction in Ground Control® II: Operation Exodus - the Virons - an alien warrior race. 

The Virons, a previously-unseen element of the Ground Control universe, is the second playable faction in the game, and fight ferociously with a never-before-seen method of attack.  During combat, the Virons have the ability to meld several troops together to create new, stronger units, and to successfully defeat them requires the player to use a completely new set of skills.  Rather than doing traditional battlefield reconnaissance to determine the composition of his opponent's army, the player will instead need to anticipate how his opponent will combine his units. 

The Virons have an organic look to them, and the designers took inspiration from nature to design their appearance and behavior.  For example, the main infantry unit, the Prime Clanguard, features a projectile weapon of molecular acid that swiftly eats through any known material.  The Gas Centruroid, another basic unit, is armed with a spore-thrower that is capable of bypassing armor and cover bonuses. 

"It is very satisfying to finally reveal this second playable faction," said Martin Walfisz, CEO of Massive Entertainment.  "The entire development team has worked hard to design and implement the Virons, and playing as this faction is a very different gaming experience indeed."

Ground Control II: Operation Exodus combines the fast-paced action and stunning graphics of an action game with the tactical thinking of a real-time strategy game.  In a departure from traditional RTS games, Ground Control II: Operation Exodus focuses on tactical combat with minimal time spent on resource management. 

The game takes place on the Northern Star Alliance (NSA) home planet, Morningstar Prime, a distant colony world where you assume the role of a highly respected officer within the armed NSA forces. As Captain Jacob Angelus, you take command of a task force consisting of infantry, vehicles, tanks and aircraft. The survival of your people depends on the strategic and tactical choices that you make during the 24 missions long fight for victory against the Terran Empire and their newly discovered allies, the Virons.

Ground Control II: Operation Exodus is currently under development at Massive Entertainment and will be available for the PC in the second quarter of 2004.  For more information, log on to http://www.groundcontrol2.com.

About Massive Entertainment
Massive Entertainment, founded in 1997, is a premier producer of games and interactive entertainment software for a worldwide market. Its world acclaimed PC game 'Ground Control,' launched in 2000, established Massive Entertainment as one of the most innovative developers in the real time strategy genre. Further, the company has developed several integrated games for mobile phone, SMS and WAP platforms, and a number of additional titles for the PC. In 2002 Vivendi Universal Games (VUG) acquired the company to become one of only two internal development studios outside North America. Together Massive Entertainment and VUG are now working on the top entertainment titles of the future. Massive Entertainment is located in Malmö, Sweden.

About Vivendi Universal Games
Headquartered in New York, Vivendi Universal Games ( www.vugames.com ) is a global leader in multi-platform interactive entertainment. The company develops, publishes and distributes interactive products for all major platforms including PCs, video game consoles and the Internet. Vivendi Universal Games' portfolio of development studios and publishing labels includes Blizzard Entertainment, Coktel, Fox Interactive, Knowledge Adventure, Massive Entertainment, Sierra Entertainment and Universal Interactive. Additionally, Vivendi Universal Games co-publishes and/or distributes titles for a number of strategic partners, including Interplay, inXile entertainment, Majesco and Mythic Entertainment, among others..

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