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Press Release
Simutronics Links Up with Renaissance Entertainment Corporation
Leading roleplaying companies to partner for games and growth
Rockville, MD (February 6, 1998) Simutronics Corp®
., the leader in multiplayer online games, announced a partnership with Renaissance
Entertainment Corporation (REC) (NASDAQ: FAIR), the largest and only publicly
traded organizer of Renaissance faires in the United States. Simutronics
role-playing games will be featured on RECs web site and in all their
advertising for the upcoming faire season.
Simutronics and REC will cross-promote each others products and services
via the heavily trafficked realm of the Internet. Simutronics vastly popular
role-playing games will be accessible through RECs Web pages and Simutronics
will gain access to RECs thoroughly profiled role-player audience. The
partnership will take the live "16th century" experience of the Renaissance
fairegoer to the personal and interactive experience of the avid 21st century
online gameplayer.
David Whatley, President and CEO of Simutronics, stated that "the pairing
of Simutronics games with the Renaissance Faires audience is a natural
fit. Our games give the fairegoers an opportunity to experience medieval times
and activities throughout the year over and above the time spent at the faire."
Under the agreement, REC will create a special web page to showcase Simutronics
roleplaying games for its vast network of roleplayers, featuring GemStone IV,
DragonRealms, and the upcoming Hercules and Xena: Alliance of Heroes. With Renaissance
faires in five major national markets, REC reaches an audience of 800,000+.
The Renaissance faire industry itself enjoys an estimated total of 4.5 million
visitors yearly. The addition of the games to RECs web site will enhance
the experience of attending one of the faires and help fairegoers to stay in
the spirit all year long.
Charles Leavell, Chairman and CEO of REC, commented that "the market for
these game services is virtually limitless. The electronic marriage
of Simutronics and REC creates an extraordinary opportunity for each company
to tap into the runaway role-playing business. We believe were looking
at a tremendous potential for additional revenue streams for REC."
About Simutronics
Simutronics Corporation, a long-time leader in multiplayer gaming, specializes
in the design, development, and management of games created specifically for
collaborative play in virtual online communities. Their Internet sites can be
found at gemstone.net, dragonrealms.net, cyberstrike.net, and modusoperandi.net.
Founded in 1987, Simutronics Corporation is a privately held corporation with
offices in St. Charles, Missouri, and Rockville, Maryland.
The company recently announced a partnership with Universal Studios, calling
for Simutronics to create a mythological game environment based on the top syndicated
TV programs, "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" and "Xena: Warrior
Princess." The new game, Hercules and Xena: Alliance of Heroes is scheduled
to debut on the Internet in April 1998. Simutronics also just announced an agreement
granting the retail rights of CyberStrike 2, the highly anticipated 3D-action
game, to Sony Interactive Studios America. CyberStrike 2 will be available in
both single-player and multiplayer modes in mid-1998.
About Renaissance Entertainment Corporation
Renaissance Entertainment Corporation is the only publicly traded company in
the Renaissance Faire industry. The companys Faires currently serve five
of the largest metro areas in the country including New York, Chicago/Milwaukee,
Los Angeles, San Francisco, and the greater Washington, D.C./Richmond area.
The Renaissance Faire is an outdoor family-oriented event that romanticizes
the ambience of a Renaissance era marketplace, which includes craft shops, period
food, dancers, jousters, musicians and historical characters from Elizabethan
England. Fairegoers experience continuous entertainment from byways and multiple
stages.
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