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MONOLITH ACQUIRES RIGHTS TO RIOT AND DIRECTENGINE FROM MICROSOFT
Monolith Will Publish 'Riot' And License 3D Game Engine To Developers

KIRKLAND, WA, April 15, 1998 - Game developer Monolith Productions today announced that it has purchased back the rights to its revolutionary 3D first-person action game Riot from Microsoft, and plans to release the game this fall to the consumer software market. Monolith has also bought back all rights to DirectEngine (newly renamed the "LithTech Engine"), the state-of-the-art 3D game engine used in Riot and Blood 2: The Chosen. The LithTech Engine, which Monolith will license to game developers, has already generated considerable interest due to its robust features, flexible architecture, continuous updates and 24-hour technical support. Monolith has also just released a demonstration video of the LithTech Engine in action, which can be downloaded from the LithTech web site at http://www.lithtech.com.

"We are extremely proud of Riot's cutting edge technology and advanced gameplay, and are thrilled to be able to publish Riot ourselves," said Jason Hall, CEO of Monolith Productions. "We are also working with various developers and publishers who are interested in licensing the engine for their projects. So far, everybody's excited about what they've seen, and it only gets better from here."

In Monolith's animé-inspired 3D game Riot, players control a 40-foot mech and wield gigantic, ultra-powerful weapons. They can wage battle in three different ways - on foot, as one of four huge robots, or as a "transformed" robot in vehicle mode. Utilizing the latest in 3D technology and motion capture animation, Riot engulfs players in a futuristic world and entices them with its animé-based fighting style, characters, and epic storyline. In single-player mode, gamers face a deadly variety of advanced AI soldiers, mechs, and other less-than-human enemies. Players can also go mech-to-mech against their best friends (and enemies) using Riot's advanced multiplayer capabilities, which include seamless drop-in-networking and support for up to 32 players. For the latest information and screen shots, go to the Riot web site at http://www.shogo-mad.com.

Riot has been built from the ground up using the LithTech Engine (formerly known as DirectEngine). The LithTech Engine goes head-to-head with currently available 3D technologies and surpasses them in flexibility and support. Designed specifically to make game development easier and less expensive for developers, the engine uses straightforward level and model editing tools that give artists and game designers more flexibility when creating game environments and worlds. Using the LithTech Engine, game developers can build an entire 3D game from virtually any perspective. The engine supports level of detail for complex 3D models, as well as hierarchical key-framed animation (plus interpolation) and mesh deformation. It also supports colored dynamic lighting, light mapping for realistic lighting and shadow effects, and surface effects, as well as DirectMusic™, which will allow game developers to incorporate 3D sound and dynamic music.

Monolith is working with 3^rd party developers to build supporting products for use with the LithTech Engine. Phantom Reality, a multimedia tools developer in North Carolina, has announced plans to provide a Visual Basic front end for the engine for release in 1998. Besides game development, Phantom Reality's tool will have applications for a variety of other industries, such as engineering and medicine. For more information visit http://www.phantomreality.com.

Monolith is currently utilizing the LithTech Engine to develop Riot and Blood 2: The Chosen, its sequel to Blood. For more information about Riot, visit http://www.lith.com. To learn more about the LithTech Engine and licensing the technology, go to http://www.lithtech.com, and for information about Blood 2: The Chosen, visit http://www.the-chosen.com.

Headquartered in Kirkland, WA, Monolith Productions is a developer and publisher of computer games. Current titles include Blood, the popular first-person shooter published May 1997 by GT Interactive, and Claw, a 1998 Codie Award nominee published by WizardWorks. New titles to be released this fall include the following internally developed games: Riot, Get Medieval, Gruntz, and Blood 2: The Chosen. Monolith Productions is located on the World Wide Web at http://www.lith.com.