Conquerors Pursue $50,000 Tournament Prize

European Gamers Prepare to do
Battle in the Age of Empires II: The Conquerors
International Tournament

An American and a Canadian conqueror
are preparing to do battle in Redmond, Washington for the world finals
on October 24. AzurePoet captured the Canadian championship and will be
joined by the U.S. champion, Gx_Iron. The Age of Empires II: The
Conquerors International Tournament, which will award $50,000 to the
player who emerges victorious, continues today on the MSN Gaming Zone (http://www.zone.com).
Players from the United Kingdom will hit the virtual battlefield at 12
p.m. PDT today. Registration for Belgium is now open, with that
tournament beginning on Thursday, August 30.

Fifteen countries/regions are holding
individual tournaments via the MSN Gaming Zone (http://www.zone.com),
LAN events, or local partners in August and September 2001. Each
country/region will crown a national champion who will receive prize
money and will represent their home country or region in the world
finals in Redmond, Washington on October 24, 2001. The world finals will
be hosted by Ensemble Studios’ legendary game designer Bruce Shelley,
among others. The overall value of all cash prizes is over $100,000,
with the winner of the competition taking home $50,000. The official
rules and country-specific information are available on the official
tournament page at

http://zone.msn.com/conquerors/a2xpworldtourney.asp.

Age of Empires is one of the most
successful strategy game franchises in history, having sold over eight
million units worldwide. The series, developed by Ensemble Studios, has
received numerous awards including AIAS Strategy Game of the Year awards
for Age of Empires, Age of Empires II: Age of Kings, and The Conquerors
Expansion; as well as the prestigious AIAS PC Game of the Year for Age
of Empires II: Age of Kings. Age of Empires II: The Conquerors Expansion
challenges gamers to wage war on an epic scale with all-new
civilizations, unique units and technologies, and campaigns based on
infamous conquerors such as Attila the Hun, El Cid and Montezuma.

More information about the Conquerors
Expansion is available on the game’s official site at

http://www.microsoft.com/games/conquerors/, or on the Ensemble
Studios site at
http://www.ensemblestudios.com/.* * *