CIVILIZATION III PRE-SALES GET OFF TO A ROARING START

BEVERLY, MA ­ September 28, 2001 ­ Pre-sales have begun for the highly anticipated third installment of the game franchise that has kept game players in front of computers way into the night for over ten years: Sid Meier’s Civilization® III. As the pre-sales mount, it has come as no surprise that the most dedicated aficionados of the game are snapping up the special limited edition version of Civilization III that has been capped at a one-time run of 75,000 units.

“The pre-sales of Civilization III have really taken off”, said Ron Seger, vice president, product line sales for Infogrames. “Early on we met with some of our retail partners about a special edition of the game that would be limited to a small production run. The positive response to this idea was universal. We put together the limited edition for those fans that want more in their Civilization III experience. The gamers who score one of these tin-box limited edition games on launch day could have a real collector’s item.”

'Civilization III is a highly anticipated title and the EB pre-sell program is off to a great start,” said Jerry Madaio, vice president of merchandising - PC for Electronics Boutique. “Reserve orders for both the regular version and the limited edition have doubled over the last week as a result of our in-store efforts and the buzz surrounding this game.'

'We’re thrilled with the response we’ve seen so far ­ demand for this product is outstripping supply,” said Nancy MacIntyre, vice president of marketing for Infogrames’ Beverly Label. “Though we think we will be able to provide Sid Meier with a complimentary copy of the limited edition, all other bets are off!'

The limited edition of Sid Meier’s Civilization III comes packaged in a tin box that contains an exclusive video chronicling the making of Civilization III, a second video celebrating Sid Meier’s induction into the IDSA Hall of Fame, designer’s notes from Sid Meier and Jeff Briggs, a fold-out tech tree, and the Civilization III game and manual.

Through its ten-year lifespan the Civilization series has sold more than four million copies since it was first introduced in 1991. The series’ creator, world-renowned, hall-of-fame game designer Sid Meier and the team at Firaxis Games, have returned to work on the newest Civilization game five years after Civ II captured the imaginations of gamers around the world and set the standard as what computer gaming magazines have called “the greatest strategy game of all time”.

In Civilization III players choose one of 16 fledgling civilizations and, if they are masterful, guide them to global domination through development of technologies, cultural achievement, trade with other civilizations and all the other skills that make a civilization great.

Civilization III is available for pre-order at Electronics Boutique, CompUSA, Best Buy, GameStop.com and Amazon.com. The estimated retail price of the standard product is $49.99 and the special limited edition is $59.99.

About FIRAXIS Games FIRAXIS Games, home of legendary designer Sid Meier, creates fun, intelligent computer games that live in the imaginations of people the world over. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, FIRAXIS has created such critically acclaimed games as Sid Meier's Gettysburg!, Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri, Sid Meier’s Alien Crossfire and Sid Meier’s Antietam!. The company is currently in production on the highly anticipated Sid Meier’s Civilization III (to be published by Infogrames) and Sid Meier’s SimGolf (to be published by Electronic Arts). For more information on FIRAXIS Games visit www.firaxis.com.

About Infogrames New York-based Infogrames, Inc. (Nasdaq: IFGM) is the second largest third-party publisher of interactive entertainment software in the U.S. The Company develops video games for all consoles (Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft), PCs, and Macintosh systems. Infogrames’ catalogue of more than 1,000 titles includes award-winning franchises such as Alone In The Dark™, Civilization™, Deer Hunter®, Driver™, Roller Coaster Tycoon®, Test Drive®, and Unreal®, and key licenses including Survivor™, Warner Bros. Looney Tunes™, Nickelodeon’s Blue’s Clues™, Dragon Ball Z, Mission Impossible®, Harley-Davidson®, Major League Baseball®, and the National Football League®, among many others. The Company’s Humongous Entertainment and MacSoft labels are leaders in children’s entertainment software and Macintosh entertainment software, respectively. Infogrames, Inc. is a majority-owned subsidiary of France-based Infogrames Entertainment SA (IESA) (Euronext 5257), a global publisher and distributor of video games for all platforms, as well as interactive digital television, mobile smart devices (WAP, HDML) and in-flight entertainment systems. In 2001, IESA acquired Infogrames Interactive, Inc. (formerly Hasbro Interactive), including its line of software based on well-known licenses such as Monopoly®, Jeopardy®, Tonka®, and Atari®, which are published in the U.S. by Infogrames, Inc. For more information, visit the Company’s Web site at www.us.infogrames.com.