December 8, 1997 -- SIERRA WELCOMES THE RETURN OF "KRONDOR":

PYROTECHNIX®, INC., MAKERS OF RAYMOND E. FEIST'S "RETURN TO KRONDOR™," JOINS

SIERRA'S FAMILY OF LEADING-EDGE DEVELOPMENT GROUPS

Highly-awaited sequel to Sierra's award-winning "Betrayal at Krondor" scheduled for a Holiday 1998 release

BELLEVUE, Wash. -- Sierra announced today the acquisition from 7th Level of PyroTechnix®, Inc., makers of the highly-anticipated role-playing computer game "Return to Krondor™." Designed by acclaimed author Raymond E. Feist, "Return to Krondor™" marks the triumphant return of the Riftwar Saga to computer role-playing in the monumental sequel to Sierra On-Line's award-winning Betrayal at Krondor.

"We're thrilled to welcome Raymond Feist and the 'Krondor' series back to the Sierra family," said Scott Lynch, senion vice president at Sierra. "When the Sierra team saw the game engine technology developed by PyroTechnix®, combined with the brilliant story and character development of Mr. Feist, we were blown away. Return to Krondor™ is the experience gamers have been waiting for since Betrayal at Krondor's release in 1993."

"We are confident Return to Krondor™ will greatly influence the way role-playing games look and play in the future. Sierra's powerful sales and marketing team gives us the support we need to realize our goal with this, and future Krondor titles," said Sinjin Bain, President of PyroTechnix®, Inc. "PyroTechnix® has a great creative relationship with Ray Feist and we're extremely pleased to be joining the Sierra family.

We look forward to the dynamic combination of Feist, PyroTechnix®, and Sierra producing a profitable and successful relationship." "For many years, Sierra has stood as a major force in computer games," said Raymond E. Feist. It's flattering to have Sierra want the Krondor series back again. The Krondor franchise began with Betrayal at Krondor and I look forward to working closely with PyroTechnix® and Sierra on this and future Krondor titles."

In Return to Krondor™, an ancient and inscrutable evil has emerged from the darkness to strip the Ishapian Church of its most sacred artifact -- the Tear of the Gods. The struggle to reclaim this relic™ unfolds from the perspectives of the player's five main characters. Their epic quest leads them from the dizzying heights of Krondor's palace, through the city's twisting sewer tunnels and into the haunted depths of a temple, dedicated to an evil as ancient as the gods themselves.

The advanced True3D®" engine, created by PyroTechnix®, powers the monumental sequel. True 3D creates a realistic, visually engaging environment through six degrees of freedom, motion-captured, real-time characters and the integration of 2-D animation with 3-D characters. Additional features include real-time light and sound sourcing, translucency and 16-bit color. The Windows®95-native game is slated for a Holiday 1998 release.

Sierra, located in Bellevue, WA, is one of the original developers and largest worldwide publishers of interactive entertainment and productivity software. In July 1996, Sierra was acquired by CUC International, Inc. (NYSE: CU), a technology-driven retail and membership services company that provides access to travel, shopping, auto, dining, home improvement, financial and other services to more than 70 million consumers worldwide. Sierra is part of CUC Software, an operating unit that consolidates the sales, manufacturing, finance, accounting and management of CUC International's software divisions.

True 3D At A Glance:

Return to Krondor™ is being created with PyroTechnix®'s True3D® technology, a real-time development system for Windows applications and games. True3D®'s features include:

  • Full support for Intel's Pentium II MMX and AGP architecture
  • Animated textures
  • Native support for 3Dfx's Glide API
  • 8-bit and 16-bit RGB color lighting
  • Multiple and animated point light sources
  • Full collision detection
  • AI scheduling and callback
  • Real-time audio engine with support for: sound prioritization, panning and volume rendering, echo, doppler phase shifting, and other effects
  • True six degree freedom of motion
  • Conversion API for custom editor development
  • 3D StudioMAX plug-ins for actor sprite and world creation and conversion
  • Conversion support for Multigen's Openflight format

CONTACT:
Sierra Studios™
425-649-9800
email: StudiosPR@sierra.com