April 20th, 2004
Beyond Divinity Goes Gold
Larian Studios’ new RPG in stores
on April 27th
Larian Studios today announced that
its long awaited new RPG, Beyond Divinity, has completed development and will
ship to US & UK retail stores before the end of April.
“Once again we have delivered a very
complex RPG” says Swen Vincke, project leader on Beyond Divinity, “and I want to
congratulate my team on successfully finishing this new installment in the
Divinity universe. The game turned out a lot bigger than we had originally
planned 18 months ago and while I think that that’s good news for RPG fans
everywhere, it’s been a hell of a lot of work for us. I’m curious to see what
the reactions of players worldwide will be. As in Divine Divinity, they’ll find
that there’s much more to the game than one would gather at first sight, and
it’ll be fun watching people discover all the things we’ve put in there.”
Beyond Divinity is being published
by Hip Games in North America while Digital Jesters is taking care of the UK.
In both North America and the UK a
special bundle retail pack will be available. The pack features a specially
written 50-page plus novella by prestigious and respected writer Rhianna
Pratchett. The novella, Child of the Chaos, weaves a masterful tale set in the
original fantasy realm of the Divinity Universe, and readers will experience a
richer gameplay experience as they play through Beyond Divinity.
The pack will be available
everywhere in the UK whereas North American publisher Hip Games(TM)is offering
it through Best Buy (US). European gamers will be able to receive the novella
from the official Beyond Divinity website on game launch for a nominal postage
cost.
Beyond Divinity is already available
Germany,Austria and Switzerland, and will soon be available in other territories
including the Benelux,Scandinavia,Portugal,France,Australia,Poland,the Czech
republic,the Russian speaking territories,China,Japan,Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
Beyond Divinity is being localized in
French,German,Chinese,Japanese,Russian,Czech and Polish. Other languages and
territories may soon be announced.
Divine Divinity, launched in 2002
was critically acclaimed for its depth and level of interactivity. In
Beyond Divinity, Larian Studios takes what made Divine Divinity so deeply
appealing, and pushes it one step further. Using an enhanced version
of the original engine, the final product delivers infinite character
development, unparalleled levels of interactivity, a wide variety of enemies;
tons of quests and a brand new combat system. By catering to all of these
elements with equal levels of importance, Beyond Divinity delivers a total RPG
experience.
In Beyond Divinity, you become
soul-forged with a Death Knight. Your fate is to spend the rest of
eternity bonded to this creature of evil, unless you can undo this curse.
You and your unlikely partner embark on a great adventure to unlock the secret
of rift-running … your only answer to this life of darkness.
Beyond Divinity will be released on
PC-CD ROM on April 27th. For more information on Beyond Divinity, visit
www.beyond-divinity.com
About Larian Studios:
Larian Studios is the largest games
developer from Belgium and a winner of the European Seal of Excellence from the
European Multimedia Association. Their portfolio includes Beyond Divinity, the
multiple award winning RPG Divine Divinity, LED Wars and an as of yet
unannounced project. Larian Studios are also developers of bespoke entertainment
products for multi-national blue chip companies.
About Hip Games:
Hip Games provides Exclusive
Distribution service and unique Publishing opportunities to publishers and
developers from around the world, in both PC and console formats. Large enough
to reach almost every major North American retailer, and committed to working
intimately with its Business Partners, Hip Games always comes to play.
