Sudden Strike UK Championships are Biggest Ever

IT’S OFFICIAL! SUDDEN STRIKE UK
CHAMPIONSHIPS ARE BIGGEST EVER

A Battalion of 700 British get ready
for war in Europe.

July 19, 2001: The Sudden Strike UK
Championships, organised by top European games publisher CDV, has smashed
through all previous records to become officially, the biggest RTS tournament
ever held. With 700 contestants already registered via the dedicated web site at
www.suddenstrike.co.uk, CDV believes that there will be 800 players by August
1st, when the tournament officially begins.

Last-minute entrants, or anyone
still wishing to polish up their skills at the RTS blockbuster Sudden Strike now
have just two weeks to sign up for the Championships and join one of the online
battalions from where the 24 UK finalists will emerge.

The online tournament will take
place during August and September, with every single entrant who plays at least
one game eligible for a campaign medal to mark their participation in this
historic event.

Unveiled today is the unique Sudden
Strike map which has been created especially for the Championships’ qualifying
tournament by renowned map designer Taliesin. Taliesin has created custom maps
for each stage of the Championships – anyone interested in seeing, or practising,
the qualifying tournament map can download it from www.suddenstrike.co.uk and it
will also be hosted on many other sites on the web. The 24 best players from
this campaign will meet in the flesh at UK finals day on October 7 at The
Playing Fields, London’s premier multiplayer gaming venue. As well as the chance
to represent the UK in the European Final, finalists will also be competing for
prizes including top quality PC hardware. There are PCs, NVIDIA Geforce 3-based
3D Prophet III graphics cards from Hercules, and Touch Force Optical mice from
Saitek, featuring the latest optical technology with fast, accurate response
rates on offer.

"Over 700 entrants is an
unprecedented response for any single game tournament," says Leo Zullo,
marketing manager of CDV UK. "We can’t wait for the tournament to start –
we have some incredibly good players already registered and I’m sure some
exciting new stars will emerge during the competition."

"These are truly exciting times
for multi-player gaming," said Daniel Allen, Product Manager at Saitek.
"The combination of cutting edge peripherals and the best players in the UK
together will produce an experience that is both inspiring for competitors and
excellent fun."

Edward Watson, director of The
Playing Fields, adds: "In the four years that The Playing Fields has been
organising events, I have never seen anything quite like this. The interest,
support and response from entrants has been overwhelming."

Players finishing in the top three
at the UK finals will progress to the grand European showdown in Paris on
October 19. All three will win an all-expenses paid weekend in Paris which will
include the unique three-way tournament to find the Sudden Strike European
Champion, playing against the Sudden Strike champions of France and Germany.

For more on the Sudden Strike
European Championships and for an online entry form, go to
www.suddenstrike.co.uk. Details of how to enter can also be found in the
packaging for Sudden Strike Forever, the Sudden Strike expansion pack, available
now for PC CD-ROM at 19.99.