DAoC: Trials of Atlantis Announced

It looks like Dark Age of Camelot fans will be getting another expansion later this year. Here’s the full press release:

Mythic Entertainment to Release New Expansion Title
Dark Age of Camelot: Trials of AtlantisTM in Q4 ‘˜03

FAIRFAX, Va. May 5, 2003 Mythic Entertainment, developer and publisher of the worldwide success Dark Age of Camelot, will immerse fans in a new expansion, Dark Age of Camelot: Trials of Atlantis, later this year. Designed around a series of exhilarating trials available to players of all realms, the expansion will challenge high level players to survive this all-new underwater domain. Rendered with a visually stunning new graphic engine, Trials of Atlantis will continue to keep Dark Age of Camelot at cutting edge of graphics in the MMORPG world.

(Once again Mythic is extending the world of Dark Age of Camelot,) Mark Jacobs, President and CEO, Mythic Entertainment, said. (Fans will be excited by the new quests, new races, Master Level system, not to mention our new graphic engine that will deliver sophisticated underwater and improved above ground visuals.)

Trials of Atlantis will introduce the ability for players to swim, discover and explore the submerged civilization. The expansion reveals that the citizens of Atlantis, foreseeing the demise of their society, built a series of Trials into the ruins of their civilization. The Trials were designed to challenge future cultures that discover and seek to explore the ancient lands. In Trials of Atlantis, the three Realms have each found a hidden portal to the fabled continent. Now it’s up to the populations of Hibernia, Midgard and Albion to take on the nine Trials and uncover the mysterious powers amongst the ruins. To suceed, players must master the perilous ocean and confront terrifying monsters, both on land and undersea.

Trials of Atlantis is designed to further challenge high-level players by introducing a Master Level advancement system. As a player moves sequentially through each of the nine Trials, they will achieve a corresponding Master Level. Emphasising group play, the Trials will have to be surmounted by groups of players journeying through the portal together. Players will be able to travel by boat, explore islands with ruins, swim to submerged dungeons and battle new creatures in underwater caves. Additionally, the expansion will add one new player race per Realm, dozens of new monsters to encounter, as well as new objects and treasures to uncover.

The game’s graphics engine will be upgraded to NDL’s state-of-the-art Gamebryo, which will enhance ground texturing; improving all landscapes in Dark Age of Camelot as well enabling visually advanced underwater scenes. The expansion will also add a new graphical tree system to make trees and undergrowth more realistic everywhere in the game. Trial of Atlantis will also offer a skinable user interface with more options for customization.

Dark Age of Camelot: Trials of Atlantis is slated to ship to retail in Q4 2003. The expansion will require the original Dark Age of Camelot as well as the Shrouded Isles expansion. This expansion, one of three slated for release this year, will further develop the compelling experience which has already come to define Dark Age of Camelot and its first expansion, Shrouded Isles and will only be available through retail. The other two free expansion packs, including the recently announced housing expansion Foundations, will be made available to all Dark Age of Camelot subscribers.

Currently Dark Age of Camelot has more than 220,000 paying subscribers. The popularity of the game is evidenced by the fact that more than 60,000 people play simultaneously at peak times.

Dark Age of Camelot: Trials of Atlantis will be distributed by Vivendi Universal Games in North America, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Dark Age of Camelot and Shrouded Isles were developed by Mythic Entertainment, co-published with Abandon Entertainment and distributed by Vivendi Universal Games.

About Mythic Entertainment

Mythic Entertainment is one of the most successful online game developers in the industry today. Credited with 13 online games, including the award winning Dark Age of Camelot, Mythic has played a major part in the evolution of the online game industry. The company’s other titles are some of the most popular online-only games of all time, including Aliens Online, Starship Troopers: Battlespace, Godzilla Online, Silent Death Online, Rolemaster: Magestorm, Darkness Falls, Splatterball and Dragon’s Gate. Mythic was named one of Deloitte & Touche’s national (Technology Fast 500) companies, and regional (Technology Fast 50) companies. For more information about Mythic Entertainment, visit www.mythicentertainment.com.

About Vivendi Universal Games

Headquartered in New York, Vivendi Universal Games (www.vugames.com) is a global leader in multi-platform interactive entertainment. A leading publisher of PC, console and online-based interactive content, Vivendi Universal Games’ portfolio of development studios includes Black Label Games, Blizzard Entertainment, Coktel, Fox Interactive, Knowledge Adventure, NDA Productions, Sierra Entertainment and Universal Interactive. Through its Partner Publishing Group, Vivendi Universal Games also co-publishes and/or distributes interactive products for a number of strategic partners, including Crave Entertainment, Interplay, Majesco, Mythic Entertainment and Simon & Schuster, among others.