Dallas,
TX - July 7, 2005 -- Ritual Entertainment™ today announced the
development of SiN Episodes™, featuring the highly anticipated return
of Elexis Sinclaire, the world's most dangerous and seductive
biochemist, and the only man who stands in her way, John R. Blade. The
sworn enemies face off in Freeport City, a near-future mixture of San
Francisco, Tokyo and New York, all set inside the unrestricted SiN
universe.
The
upcoming SiN Episodes chapter entitled Emergence is the first in a
series of episodic adventures powered by the award-winning Source ™
engine developed by Valve®. Delivered on Steam™, the online content
delivery system, Sin Episodes takes a bold new step into the future of
gaming.
"Combining
the incredible power of the Source engine with episodic content delivery
via Steam has empowered us to raise the bar on key features of the SiN
universe, interactivity, character driven gameplay, and emergent
AI," said Tom Mustaine, cofounder and Director of Development for
Ritual.
"Digitally
delivered episodic content is the next frontier in the games
industry," said Steve Nix, Ritual CEO, affording the award-winning
development studio unprecedented flexibility. "Episodic development
gives Ritual the opportunity to be much more responsive to community
feedback and industry trends. We can adjust our content to deliver
maximum entertainment value with each installment."
"One
of our goals for Steam and Source is to provide a viable platform for
independent developers who would rather be working on original IP,"
said Gabe Newell, founder and president of Valve. "It's great to be
working with Ritual again as they take this pioneering
step
for the industry. I look forward to purchasing my copy of SiN:
Emergence."
SiN
Episodes expands on the role of Colonel John R. Blade, a battle worn
hero in charge of HardCorps, an elite strike force with a long history
of conflict with SinTEK, a powerful multibillion dollar empire headed up
by Elexis Sinclaire, a beautiful, brilliant, and ruthless scientist who
is out to remake humanity according to her own twisted vision. Joining
Blade on his mission are JC, a HardCorps hacker with a secret to keep,
and Jessica Cannon, a fiery rookie who can find her way into any secure
facility.
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SiN
Episodes: Emergence features never before seen weapons, characters and
environments along with a host of interactive options, paying homage to
its predecessors, SiN and its expansion pack, Wages of SiN, which set a
new bar for interactivity. Additional information and purchasing options
will be announced on www.sinepisodes.com
or www.steampowered.com at a
later date.
An
8-page preview of SiN Episodes: Emergence is featured in PCGamer UK's
August issue, which hits newsstands on July 7th, 2005. The article
includes exclusive images from the game along with additional materials
available on the accompanying PCGamer UK DVD.