FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WIZKIDS AND NCSOFT TEAM UP FOR CITY OF HEROESHEROCLIX

July 22, 2004 (SEATTLE) — WizKids Inc., makers of the best-selling HeroClix® collectable miniatures game (CMG), and NCsoft®, makers of the runaway hit City of Heroes™ massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG), have teamed up to create a Limited Edition HeroClix figure.

“The success of HeroClix and City of Heroes shows that the comic book genre couldn’t be stronger,” said Jordan Weisman, WizKids® CEO. “It was natural that the two biggest names in comic book games would work together to provide their players with tastes of each other’s game.” The first Limited Edition figure of the City of Heroes main “character,” Statesman, will be available through various WizKids and NCsoft promotions, including being featured in NCsoft’s City of Heroes Collector’s Edition Box Set, slated to be on shelves this winter.

“I’ve been playing HeroClix since its inception and see a natural fit between their game and City of Heroes,” said Jack Emmert, lead designer for City of Heroes. We’re all very excited to be working with the WizKids team in bringing Statesman to another fine gaming system.”

The Statesman HeroClix figure, sculpted and designed by WizKids’ award-winning artists and game developers, is fully playable in any Open HeroClix game. For more HeroClix information, go to wizkidsgames.com/HeroClix. For more City of Heroes information, go to cityofheroes.com.

In City of Heroes, players realize their comic book dreams in an online game home to an entire universe of superpowered heroes and villains. Players build their own unique heroes from millions of possible character combinations and venture into Paragon City to discover all the danger, wonder and excitement that awaits.

Founded by 20-year game-industry veteran Jordan Weisman, WizKids is a Seattle-based game developer and publisher dedicated to creating tabletop games driven by imagination. Its Mage Knight™, MechWarrior®, MLB™ SportsClix™ and HeroClix CMGs are among the most successful games on the market today, and the company has sold hundreds of millions of figures worldwide. WizKids’ games are fully supported with organized play at conventions and retail venues. For additional information, visit wizkidsgames.com.

NCsoft – North America (NC-NA) is headquartered in Austin, Texas, and is part of Korea-based NCsoft Corporation. NC–NA, with development and administrative offices in Texas and California, just launched two groundbreaking titles in the first half of 2004: Lineage™ II and City of Heroes. The company also works with NCsoft subsidiary ArenaNet™ (located in Seattle) and third-party developers throughout North America, such as Cryptic Studios, to develop and publish innovative online entertainment software products. More information about NCsoft – North America can be found at plaync.com.

Cryptic Studios Inc., located in San Jose, Calif., was established in July 2000. It is an independent developer of massively multiplayer online games for the PC and next-generation consoles. Its first game, City of Heroes, launched April 2004. The game takes place in a virtual world where thousands of people play simultaneously, take on the role of superpowered heroes, fight villains and help create a dynamic story in a visually stunning, 3-D graphical world. More information about Cryptic Studios can be found at crytpicstudios.com.

NCsoft, Lineage and ArenaNet are trademarks or registered trademarks of NCsoft Corporation. City of Heroes is a trademark of Cryptic Studios, Inc. and NCsoft Corporation. Cryptic Studios is a trademark of Cryptic Studios, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
©2004 WizKids Inc. All rights reserved. MechWarrior, HeroClix, SportsClix, Mage Knight and WizKids are trademarks of WizKids Inc.
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Major League Baseball trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. MLB.com.