Impressions Games™ and Sierra Studios™ Announce Pharaoh is Gold!

CAMBRIDGE, MA (October 21, 1999) - Impressions Games™ and Sierra Studios™ today announced that Pharaoh, Impressions' strategic city-building game set in ancient Egypt, has gone gold. The prequel to the award-winning Caesar trilogy, Pharaoh allows gamers to manage cities, construct giant monuments, and even interact with the citizens of their grand creations. This journey down the Nile is expected to begin for PC gamers around the world in the first week of November.

"Pharaoh is the most ambitious city building title Impressions has ever undertaken," said Director of Design and Development at Impressions Games, Chris Beatrice. "Everyone involved in this project has been excited about it from the get-go. In Pharaoh, we've paid close attention to detail, and maintained as much historical authenticity as is feasible in a game intended to reach a broad audience. Our goal was to deliver a fresh and satisfying experience to longstanding fans of our city building series, while at the same time making a game that would appeal to a broader audience of gamers and would-be gamers alike."

"To date, Pharaoh has been called 'the most impressive historical sim ever' and praised by the media, achieving a nomination for 'Best Strategy Game' from IgnPC.com at E3," said Director of Marketing for Sierra Studios, Jim Veevaert. "Reaction to the game from such a large and diverse audience thus far indicates that Pharaoh's success will undoubtedly surpass even that of our Caesar trilogy."

Pharaoh is set in ancient Egypt from 3200 - 1350 BC and allows players to lay out majestic Egyptian cities and grow them into thriving metropolises. Players will experience the challenges and thrills of building pyramids of such vast proportions that they are still listed first among the great wonders of the world. Fans will discover why the Nile was so crucial to all aspects of life as they witness the effects of seasonal flooding on the lives of the local inhabitants. Players will feel as if they have been transported back in time to ancient Egypt as they watch the inhabitants and economy of this exotic land come to life. More information and artwork can be found at http:\\www.pharaoh1.com.

Impressions Games, creator of some of the most innovative, best selling strategy titles, including the Lords of the Realm, Civil War Generals and City Building series, and Lords of Magic, is a leading developer of PC games with offices in Cambridge, MA. More information can be found at http://www.impressionsgames.com and http://www.sierrastudios.com.

Sierra On-Line, Inc. http://www.sierra.com/ is one of the original developers and largest worldwide publishers of interactive entertainment and productivity software. Sierra is a division of Havas Interactive, a global leader in interactive content, and is one of the world's largest publishers of education, entertainment and home productivity software. Its divisions, Blizzard®, Coktel, Knowledge Adventure®, Sierra™ and WON.net™ are famous for releasing critically acclaimed and award winning titles. Havas has operations in the US and in Europe and is a subsidiary of the French publishing house Havas, part of Vivendi Communications.