Press Releases

Mutants, Machine Guns And a New Arena Mode Descend on Germany With SiN Episodes: Emergence

First game in the SiN Episodes episodic series shipping in Germany with new content

Dallas, TX - June 28, 2006 � Grab a frag grenade and suit up for a futuristic fight for humankind's fate! Today, Ritual Entertainment announced that SiN Episodes?: Emergence for the PC, one of the first-ever full quality episodic action games, will be available July 20 in Germany for download via the Steam? distribution platform (www.steamgames.com), as well as distributed by EA for retail stores, for �19.99. Introducing a new single player Arena Mode, this release delivers increased re-playability to the first of a series of ground breaking, intense, affordable game episodes to fans in Germany and world wide.

Players begin Emergence as Commander John Blade, leader of the HardCorps organization, a security force committed to eradicating crime in Freeport City's dangerous streets. Strapped to an examination table, Elexis Sinclaire, a beautiful and ruthless scientist, injects John with a mysterious substance, before his partners in policing � brilliant hacker JC and fiery rookie Jessica Cannon, come to the rescue. Leading the HardCorps team, players dive into an all out war to find out the secret behind Elexis' elusive elixirs and their mutagenic powers, and bring the voluptuous scientist and her SinTEK empire to justice. Utilizing an arsenal of powerful weapons, from incendiary phosphorus grenades to prototype scatterguns to battle Sinclaire's mutants and maniacal plans, players step into a non-stop world full of explosive action, set against a futuristic backdrop populated with bizarre creatures, peopled with complex, motivated characters.

The SiN Episodes series is built on Source, the same engine Valve created for Half-Life� 2. In the creation of Emergence, Ritual has taken the award-winning Source engine into new realms. Pioneering the new Personal Challenge System, Ritual developed the game in a manner that adapts and tunes itself to each player's skill level and play style. This new innovation measures player's abilities, behavior, and reactions to the game world and then adjusts the gameplay and enemy prowess to match. Ruthless foes such as jetpack soldiers will evolve during battle, adapting to challenge skilled players without overwhelming inexperienced gamers.

After reviewing community enthusiasm since the May 10th US launch of Emergence, Ritual introduces the Arena Mode as new content to the July 20th versions of the game. Featuring 4 new maps, in this new competitive single player experience, players face off against an onslaught of SinTEK foes. With a longer survival times, comes a higher score, but this is no ordinary challenge; with every moment of gameplay, the Personal Challenge System continues to shift the difficulty, keeping the pressure dialed up. With an integrated stats tracking system, Emergence players can view their ranking against friends and rivals from around the world.

"SiN Episodes: Emergence provides a high quality, immersive experience in a compact and affordable package that is accessible to players of all skill levels," said Steve Nix, Ritual CEO. "Emergence is a true step forward built on our ten years of growth and learning at Ritual, and the structure of SiN Episodes allows our team to continue to create gameplay innovation and evolve the storyline as the episodes continue, as evidenced by the introduction of the Arena mode in this version launching July 20."

For more information, please visit the game's official site at SinEpisodes.com.

About Ritual

Ritual Entertainment, a Dallas, Texas-based game development studio, has been a consistent leader in the evolution of content and technology for some of today's most successful console and PC games. Established in August 1996, Ritual is known for its ability to develop both internal and external properties with award-winning results. More on Ritual Entertainment can be found at www.ritual.com.

� 2006 Ritual Entertainment and Sin Episodes are trademarks or registered trademarks of Ritual Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

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