Press Release: 1997-05-23: Blood is Coming to HEAT.NET SegaSoft's Internet Game Network

This is an unaltered copy of a press release, for use as a primary source on Sega Retro. Please do not edit the contents below. Language: English Original source: SegaSoft (archived)

Hot new first-person shooter is HEAT-enabled for summer Blood Bath Tournament

REDWOOD CITY (May 23, 1997) - Blood TM will soon flow freely on HEAT.NET, SegaSoft's new Internet Game Network. SegaSoft, Inc., the multiplayer game and game network company, and GT Interactive, the New York-based publisher, announced today that Blood, the critically acclaimed and highly anticipated first-person, 3-D shooter available May 23rd for PC CD-ROM will be available for play on HEAT.NET. SegaSoft will promote Blood with a national Blood Bath Tournament on HEAT.NET later this summer. Players will be able to compete for $20,000 in cash and prizes.

"We expect Blood to be a smash hit and we are delighted that it will be one of the first third-party titles to debut on HEAT," said Murry Froikin, GT Interactive Vice President. "We like HEAT's unique blend of network technologies, competitive features, community-building tools and electronic commerce capabilities."

One of the first third-party games specially enabled for the HEAT network, Blood has been available as shareware since April. More than 350,000 copies of the blood-soaked, first-person, 3-D shooter have been downloaded since then. Along with a fanatical following of gamers, Blood has received rave reviews from the computer gaming press. GamePen stated simply: "It doesn't get any better than this!"

"We are pleased with the Blood tranfusion," said Gary Griffiths, SegaSoft CEO and president. "An over-the-top gore fest, Blood exemplifies our commitment to providing the very best gaming content. We also expect an extremely hot tournament this summer."

SegaSoft will celebrate the arrival of Blood with a national Blood Bath Tournament in which the first 8,000 players who enter will play in one of eight 1,000-player ladders. The eight ladder champions will compete later this summer at SegaSoft headquarters for cash and other prizes in a final Blood Bath death match.

Available at retailers nationwide starting May 23, Blood can also be purchased on the BlackMarket, HEAT's online store on HEAT.NET at a competitive price which includes two-day shipping. Beginning next week, Blood will also be available for purchase at Le Store, Segasoft's online store at SegaSoft.com. When purchased at either online stores, the PC CD-ROM title comes with 6 months of free Premium HEAT.NET membership. The free membership will begin when HEAT.NET starts full commercial operations later this summer.

Until then, Blood owners and others can play Blood and most of their other favorite multiplayer games for free on HEAT.NET during its open public testing period, which began May 8. To date, HEAT.NET has attracted more than 40,000 players. Gamers can now register at WWW.HEAT.NET to play Blood and other IPX- (Virtually any game enabled for LAN play) and HEAT-enabled games across the network, which employs Mpath technology to ensure the fastest Internet game play.

SegaSoft promises to introduce additional special HEAT-enabled third-party games in coming months.

Blood, the goriest game ever
Not for the faint of heart, Blood is a tidal wave of first-person shooter carnage. Armed with 10 different weapons, players must battle zombies, cultists, gargoyles, mimes, bats, rats and more as they move through beautifully rendered 3-D environments that include graveyards, crematoria and slaughterhouses. Blood was developed by Monolith Productions, of Kirkland, Wash., and is published by GT Interactive.
About GT Interactive
Headquartered in NY, GT Interactive Software Corp. is a leading global publisher of entertainment and edutainment software under the GT Interactive and Cavedog Entertainment brands for personal computers as well as video game systems from Sony, Nintendo and Sega. Among GT Interactive's best-sellers are Duke Nukem 3D and QUAKE. MacSoft is the company's industry-leading Macintosh software brand. GT Interactive is also a leader in value-priced software under the GameWizards, WizardWorks, CompuWorks and Slash brands. Located on the World Wide Web at www.gtinteractive.com , GT Interactive is publicly traded on the NASDAQ National Market System under the symbol GTIS.

About SegaSoft
SegaSoft was founded in 1995 and develops interactive software and content for PCs and the Internet. SegaSoft is a privately held company whose shareholders include CSK International Headquarters, Inc. and Sega of America, Inc. SegaSoft is headquartered in Redwood City, Calif., where it employs 120 people. For more information on SegaSoft, please visit www.segasoft.com

SegaSoft and HEAT.NET are trademarks of SegaSoft, Inc.