Press release: 2000-08-29: SIERRA STUDIOS(tm) ANNOUNCES HALF-LIFE: BLUE SHIFT

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 third-party Original source: Valve Archive

Exclusive New Mission for Sega Dreamcast(tm) Officially Named

BELLEVUE, WA (August 29, 2000) - Sierra Studios(tm) and Gearbox Software announced today Half-Life: Blue Shift, the name of the exclusive mission being developed as an additional offering in Half-Life Dreamcast. This special mission surrounding the Black Mesa security guard from the original game is being custom created for the Dreamcast console system by Gearbox Software, the Texas-based development team that created Half-Life: Opposing Force(tm), the official PC expansion for Half-Life and winner of the 2000 Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences' PC Action Game of the Year.

Scheduled for release November 1st, Half-Life Dreamcast is in development by Northern California-based Captivation Digital Laboratories in conjunction with Gearbox Software and Valve. Half-Life: Dreamcast is set to be even more extraordinary than the original PC version. In addition to Half-Life: Blue Shift, the Sega Dreamcast edition includes the original version of Half-Life with several enrichments, including highly detailed characters, enhanced weapons, and more articulate animation to showcase the power of the Sega Dreamcast and deliver a fresh and exciting experience for console gamers.

Half-Life combines great storytelling with intense action and advanced technology to create an impressive, realistic world where players need to think smart to survive. Originally created for the PC by Valve, Half-Life has won more than 50 Game of the Year awards from publications around the world, was named "Best PC Game Ever" by Imagine Media's PC Gamer magazine (November 1999), and has sold over 2 million copies worldwide.

Founded in January 1999, Gearbox Software is a team of veteran 3D game developers collected in Dallas, Texas. The Gearbox crew is made up of artists, designers, and programmers who joined forces to form their own development house after stints at a variety of companies, including 3D Realms, Microprose and Ritual. Half-Life: Opposing Force is the company's first offering to the gaming community and is the recipient of the prestigious 2000 Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences' PC Action Game of the Year.

Sierra On-Line, Inc. http://www.sierra.com/ is one of the original developers and largest worldwide publishers of interactive entertainment and productivity software. Sierra is a division of Havas Interactive, a global leader in interactive content, and is one of the world's largest publishers of education, entertainment and home productivity software. Its divisions, Blizzard Entertainment(r), Coktel, Knowledge Adventure(r), Sierra(tm) and Flipside.com(tm) are famous for releasing critically acclaimed and award winning titles. Havas has operations in the US and in Europe and is a subsidiary of the French publishing house Havas, part of Vivendi Communications.