Official Hordes of the Underdark Press Release

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(Originally posted by Sorcerer)

Just in case you need official confirmation that HotU has shipped, check out this press release provided by Atari:

ATARI RELEASES NEVERWINTER NIGHTS™: HORDES OF THE UNDERDARK

Award-Winning Neverwinter Nights™ Universe Expands With New Campaign, Epic Levels, Prestige Classes, Creatures, Spells and More

LOS ANGELES * Dec. 3, 2003 * Atari and BioWare Corp., under a licensing agreement with Hasbro, Inc., have expanded the award-winning Neverwinter Nights™ with the release of the highly anticipated expansion pack Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark™. Available today, Hordes of the Underdark is a companion to the best-selling, fantasy roleplaying game released last year in Neverwinter Nights, which is based in the Forgotten Realms® world from Wizards of the Coast’s classic Dungeons & Dragons® game. The second official expansion pack, Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark™ pits players in a conflict to save the embattled city of Waterdeep from an ancient evil buried deep within the earth and stone of Undermountain. Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark is available for PC CD-ROM at retail stores nationwide.

“Neverwinter Nights has changed the very nature of roleplaying games,” said Steve Allison, vice president of marketing for Atari, Inc.’s Los Angeles studio. “Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark, will expand on those great gameplay elements with an extensive new single-player campaign and a host of exciting new options allowing players to create their own adventures with the Neverwinter Nights Aurora Toolset.”

Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark will include a new 20-hour single player campaign, designed for high-level characters and set amidst the famous city of Waterdeep and the foreboding Underdark from the D&D® game’s Forgotten Realms campaign setting. Hordes of the Underdark will significantly expand upon the Neverwinter Nights universe, most notably with the addition of Epic Level gameplay. Based upon the rules published by Wizards of the Coast in the D&D game supplement Epic Level Handbook™, Epic Levels will be available for characters who have reached level 20, allowing them to advance as far as level 40.

In addition, Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark will introduce several new prestige classes, including the Shifter, a druidic class specializing in shape shifting; dozens of new feats, such as Epic Reputation, Craft Weapon and Armor Skin; a multitude of new weapons and spells, many designed solely for epic level characters; challenging new creatures pulled straight out of the Underdark, including Mind Flayers, Beholders and Driders; several new character voice sets for even greater character customization; and 17 new epic soundtracks from composer Jeremy Soule.

“Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark will expand on the already massive Neverwinter Nights franchise by adding a number of features requested by the extensive fan community,” said Dr. Greg Zeschuk, BioWare Corp. joint CEO and Co-Executive Producer of Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark. “The inclusion of Epic Levels alone should open up great new ways for people to play the game and create their own high-level adventures, further extending the value of their original game purchase, “ added Ray Muzyka, BioWare Corp. joint CEO and Co-Executive Producer.

Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark will equip module makers with two new tilesets and additional content for the Neverwinter Nights Aurora Toolset, the groundbreaking software included with the full game that allows players to create their own universes, quests and storylines. The two new tilesets will be based around the new campaign and will include exciting new features specific to certain denizens of the Underdark itself.

Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark is now available at retail stores nationwide with an estimated retail price of $29.99 and an ESRB rating of “T” for Teen. Additional information about Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark can be found online at www.bioware.com.

About BioWare
BioWare Corp. is an electronic entertainment company that develops computer and console games. BioWare's developers are currently hard at work on Star Wars:® Knights of the Old Republic™ (to be published by LucasArts) for the PC. Development continues on the Neverwinter Nights™ expansion pack (to be published by Atari) - Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark™ planned for a fall 2003 release. Two currently untitled projects, one an Xbox title (to be published by Microsoft), the other a PC title (no publisher yet announced), both featuring original BioWare intellectual properties, are also in development. Star Wars:® Knights of the Old Republic,™ released July 18, 2003 for the Xbox is currently enjoying critical praise and great commercial success with its opening weekend launch ending with Microsoft proclaiming the title as the fastest selling Xbox game in history. Previously published projects include: the award winning Neverwinter Nights,™ the genre-defining Baldur's Gate™ role playing game series for the PC, MDK™2 for Dreamcast and PC, MDK™2: Armageddon for PlayStation®2 and Shattered Steel™. BioWare information can be found online at www.bioware.com.

About Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE:HAS), is a worldwide leader in the trading card game and tabletop roleplaying game categories, and a leading developer and publisher of game-based entertainment products. The company holds an exclusive patent on trading card games (TCGs) and their method of play and produces the premier trading card game, Magic: The Gathering®, among many other trading card games and family card and board games. Wizards is also a leading publisher of roleplaying games, such as Dungeons & Dragons®, and publisher of fantasy series fiction with numerous New York Times best-sellers. For more information, visit the Wizards of the Coast website at wizards.com.

Hasbro (NYSE:HAS) is a worldwide leader in children's and family leisure time entertainment products and services, including the design, manufacture and marketing of games and toys ranging from traditional to high-tech. Both internationally and in the U.S., its PLAYSKOOL, TONKA, MILTON BRADLEY, PARKER BROTHERS, TIGER, and WIZARDS OF THE COAST brands and products provide the highest quality and most recognizable play experiences in the world.

About Atari
New York-based Atari, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATAR) develops interactive games for all platforms and is one of the largest third-party publishers of interactive entertainment software in the U.S. The Company’s 1,000+ titles include hard-core, genre-defining games such as Driver™, Enter the Matrix™, Neverwinter Nights™, Stuntman™, Test Drive®, Unreal® Tournament 2003, and Unreal® Championship; and mass-market and children’s games such as Backyard Sports™, Nickelodeon’s Blue’s Clues™ and Dora the Explorer™, Civilization®, Dragon Ball Z® and RollerCoaster Tycoon®. Atari, Inc. is a majority-owned subsidiary of France-based Infogrames Entertainment SA (Euronext 5257), the largest interactive games publisher in Europe. For more information, visit www.atari.com.

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Neverwinter Nights, Shadows of Undrentide, Hordes of the Underdark, Epic Level Handbook, Forgotten Realms, Dungeons & Dragons, D&D and Magic: The Gathering are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. in the United States and other countries. © 2003 Wizards