Magic the Gathering Information Taken from an Internet Press Release MAGIC: THE GATHERING, FOR THE PC FROM MICROPROSE, HITS RETAIL STORES NATIONWIDE MARCH 7 MicroProse Supports Computer Game Release With Aggressive Marketing Campaign ALAMEDA, Calif., February 24, 1997 - With more than two billion cards sold worldwide, Magic: The Gathering, is set to debut as a Windows 95 interactive computer game on CD-ROM, published by Spectrum HoloByte, Inc., under the MicroProse brand name. The final software was sent into production today. The game is slated to be shipped to retailers nationwide on Friday, March 7, it was announced today by Spectrum HoloByte, Inc., (NASDAQ-NNM:SBYT). Domestic pre-orders are more than double retailer's pre-orders for MicroProse's award-winning PC title, Civilization II. The company is supporting the Magic: The Gathering retail launch with a comprehensive marketing campaign. The game will be marketed under the MicroProse brand and distributed worldwide. "Magic: The Gathering is a huge phenomenon. This interactive game for the PC accurately recreates the Magic: The Gathering experience on the computer. Now you can play a game of Magic anytime, anywhere," said Derek W. McLeish, senior vice president of marketing for MicroProse. Marketing And Promotions: MicroProse is supporting the release of Magic: The Gathering with numerous marketing programs, retail promotions, public relations events and World Wide Web promotions. They include: Reserved Game Copies - Select retail outlets have implemented a special promotion to consumers, offering to reserve a copy of Magic: The Gathering for the PC prior to street date. After putting down a pre-order deposit, the consumer will receive a specially produced Magic poster produced exclusively for the promotion, featuring the Astral Set, a special collection of 12 cards found only in the MicroProse game. This is a while-supplies-last offer. In-Store Product Highlights Video - A number of retail outlets are showing a product highlights video featuring game footage from Magic: The Gathering and several other upcoming MicroProse product releases. In-Store Point-of-Sale Material - To build awareness of the product's availability, a variety of retail outlets received Magic: The Gathering in-store merchandising materials, including oversized product boxes (designed specially for window displays); themed four foot vendor sections; and store and/or mall product signage. Product Launch Activities - At participating retailers, consumers may receive free with purchase, a special edition draw-string pouch containing Magic: The Gathering gaming stones. MicroProse will provide key store personnel with a specially printed Magic: The Gathering T-shirt featuring artwork of "Call From The Grave," a card from the Astral Set found only in the MicroProse computer game. Partnering with Wizards of the Coast in the beginning of March, MicroProse will be sponsoring Magic tournaments at 13 retail sites across the country to promote the launch of the PC game. Advertising - Print advertisements will continue to run in key trade and consumer magazines through the end of the summer. Banner ads will appear on key on-line gaming Web sites. On-Line Promotions - In conjunction with Spin Magazine, MicroProse will create an on-line promotion through Spin's America Online site, reaching the publication's targeted demographics. MicroProse plans to conduct a series of on-line chat sessions with the creators of the computer game on MSN's Microsoft Network Gaming Forum. Additionally, the popular Magic: The Gathering demo will be bundled onto an AOL direct mail install disc in April. MicroProse is also planning several consumer contests with leading on-line gaming sites, designed to increase on-line viewership. MicroProse is teaming up with The Duelist Magazine, published by Wizards of the Coast, to run an innovative puzzler requiring Magic players to download a "save-game" file from the MicroProse Web site. Radio Promotions - Also in conjunction with Spin magazine's College Radio Network Forum, MicroProse will offer promotional discs to deejays to promote the game's release. Game Concepts: There are four components to Magic: The Gathering for the PC. 1) The Duel. The game includes a traditional duel module in which players can challenge the computer's artificial intelligence (AI) in a hand of Magic. This Duel allows players to jump right in and go head-to-head against the computer AI that comes complete with 60 pre-made decks. Game players may choose to duel these decks or duel against decks that the player creates. The Gauntlet, another feature of The Duel, allows the player to challenge the computer to a series of Magic: The Gathering duels in a tournament mode. 2) The Deck Builder. All cards within Magic: The Gathering for the PC are easily managed by the Deck Builder utility. The game includes all the cards from the Fourth Edition, over 20 powerful, out-of-print cards (like the Black Lotus) and the 12 new Astral Set cards. Players can make use of this utility to create, arrange and fine- tune their digital Magic: The Gathering decks for use in the game. Featuring advanced filtering mechanisms, this utility makes creating Magic decks easier and more fun than ever. 3) The Magical World of Shandalar. The third component of the game is the strategy card-game environment called Shandalar. It recreates the entire Magic: The Gathering experience in a unique environment, by giving the player the ability to buy, sell and trade Magic cards, build decks and duel opponents, as a lowly wizard out to vanquish evil from the land of Shandalar. Players will use green, red, blue, black and white magic to defeat mystical opponents in Magic: The Gathering card duels. 4) Multimedia Tutorial. The product's final component is the multimedia tutorial that introduces new players to the game of Magic: The Gathering. Using innovative video and interactive software scenarios, purchasers of Magic: The Gathering for the PC will have an intuitive, fun introduction to the card game. Later this year, MicroProse plans to launch Magic card expansions that will extend the PC title's game-play, just as expansions do for the paper card game. The company plans to release a multi-player Internet module for its Magic: The Gathering game sometime later this year. Spectrum HoloByte, Inc. is a leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software for use on CD-ROM- based personal computers under the MicroProse' brand name. The company is also developing software for use on next generation 32/64-bit console machines, the Internet and on-line gaming services. The company has five development studios located in: Alameda, California; Hunt Valley, Maryland; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Austin, Texas and Chipping Sodbury, England. Products are available nationally and internationally under the MicroProse brand and are sold through major distributors, retailers and mass merchants. Product and company information are available for download from the MicroProse World Wide Web site at http://www.microprose.com. The company has two 900# hint lines. In the United States: 900-773-HINT and in Canada: 900- 451-3546. All trademarks are the property of their respective holders. Wizards of the Coast is a privately held game company best known for the collectable trading card game Magic: The Gathering. Since Magic was released in 1993, more than two billion cards have sold worldwide, and the game is available in nine languages: French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean and English. Wizards of the Coast has offices in Renton, Washington; Glasgow, United Kingdom; Antwerp, Belgium; and Paris, France. For more information on Wizards of the Coast, visit the company's Website at http://www.wizards.com. Wizards of the Coast and Magic: The Gathering are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. MicroProse is an official licensee. - o -