Distant Worlds

For Immediate Release

Staten Island, NY, May 6th, 2010 – Matrix Games ( www.matrixgames.com) and CodeForce ( www.codeforce.co.nz) are pleased to announce a new major post-release update for Distant Worlds! This new v1.0.4 update includes over thirty bug fixes as well as more than forty improvements to the game balance, interface and usability. For the best play experience, Matrix Games strongly recommends that all owners of Distant Worlds upgrade to v1.0.4. While 1.0.4 will work fine with older saved games, we also strongly recommend starting new games with 1.0.4 as some of the bug fixes and many of the balance changes will not work with saved games from older versions.

Among the major improvements is a rebalancing of economy, diplomacy and research to better balance the early, middle and late games and this includes much smarter private sector automation that should keep your empire running better during times of war or other disruptions. Fleet management has been greatly improved, with new support for auto-engage, auto-refuel and auto-repair as well as system patrolling. Ship Design and retrofitting have seen many improvements as well, making manual ship design and upgrading easier, as well as allowing you to mass retrofit any or all of your existing ships from the ships and bases screen. The displayed “cash flow” has also been improved to be a more accurate indicator of how your economy is doing, and queuing up colonization or construction projects from the expansion planner now distributes them more efficiently among your existing colonies and construction ships.

With Distant Worlds, gamers can experience a “living galaxy” with endless options and replayability, command vast empires that span many star systems and engage in research, diplomacy, ship design, espionage, trade, combat and more! Be sure to check out the long list of promo videos available for Distant Worlds in addition to the three new screenshots of a few of the beautifully detailed alien races found in the game!

David Heath, Director of Operations at Matrix Games, said “Distant Worlds has received high praise from both gamers and reviewers but we know there is more work to do. This update brings Distant Worlds up to a new level of usability and playability and there are more improvements on the way! We’re thrilled to see that every day more gamers get their hands on Distant Worlds and start creating their own epic tales of galactic conquest!”

Distant Worlds is a vast, pausable real-time, 4X space strategy game. You can run the game as slow or as fast as you like, with intelligent advisors and many different settings for warnings and auto-pause triggers to help you manage your empire at your own pace. Experience the full depth and detail of large turn-based strategy games, but with the simplicity and ease of real-time, and on the scale of a massively-multiplayer online game.

Vast galaxies are made to order: up to 1400 star systems, with up to 50,000 planets, moons and asteroids. Galaxies are so deep, fun and immersive that you won’t want to finish the game... Build, expand and improve your empire endlessly. The galaxy is packed with life and activity. Encounter other empires, independent alien colonies, traders, pirates and space monsters. Explore star systems, asteroid fields, gas clouds, supernovae, galactic storms and black holes. Discover evidence of civilizations long since past, uncovering secrets about the galaxy's troubled history...

Best of all, you can play the game your way: enjoy a quick, intense game in a crowded galaxy or take your time in an epic game spread across a vast galaxy!

Get more information on Distant Worlds from its official product page.

ABOUT MATRIX GAMES

Matrix Games produces, markets and publishes historical wargames as well as other computer gaming products. Since 2000, Matrix Games has published over one hundred titles and several award-winning games, including Gary Grigsby’s War in the Pacific, Close Combat: The Longest Day, Harpoon 3 Advanced Naval Warfare, John Tiller’s Campaign Series, Conquest of the Aegean, Crown of Glory: Emperor’s Edition, Battles In Normandy and Norm Koger’s The Operational Art of War III. Matrix Games is based in Staten Island, New York. For more information, visit the Matrix Games website at www.matrixgames.com.

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Box Art:

http://www.matrixgames.com/images/3dbox/100x100/DW-3dBox-100x100.gif

http://www.matrixgames.com/images/3dbox/170x220/DW-3dBox-170x220.gif

http://www.matrixgames.com/images/3dbox/480x800/DW-3dBox-480x800.jpg

http://www.matrixgames.com/images/3dbox/flat800px/DW-frontshot-800px.jpg

(Additional box art and other art assets, including flat and 300+ dpi box images, are available from the Matrix Games Press Media Area “Media” section)

Screenshots:

ftp://ftp.matrixgames.com/pub/distantworlds/DW-1.jpg

ftp://ftp.matrixgames.com/pub/distantworlds/DW-2.jpg

ftp://ftp.matrixgames.com/pub/distantworlds/DW-3.jpg

Update File:

ftp://ftp.matrixgames.com/pub/DistantWorlds/DistantWorlds-Update-v104.zip

Press Contact:

Matrix Games

press@matrixgames.com