BELLEVUE, Wash. - Sierra On-Line announced today an agreement with Valve to publish and distribute the game developer's debut release, Half-Life. Half-Life combines id Software's renowned QUAKE (r) technology, Valve's proprietary technological advances and sophisticated, innovative gameplay. The result promises to be the most exciting first-person action game available this holiday season.

Half-Life introduces a revolutionary leap in 3D first-person games by combining stunning technology enhancements with genre-breaking gameplay elements. Gamers are given opportunities to wreak havoc--in true action-game fashion--but they are also challenged to explore and strategize; for instance, telling friend from foe is no longer a simple matter of humans vs. monsters. Half-Life's strong story elements, advanced inventory system and story-integrated challenges create an experience never-before-seen in traditional "run-and-gun" action games.

The game features many technological advances, including 16-bit color, sophisticated colored lighting, and environmental effects such as translucency, dynamic textures, and metallic surfaces. A proprietary character animation system gives creatures the highest polygon counts and most fluid character motions seen in a first-person action game. In addition, an advanced artificial intelligence system lets non-player characters demonstrate remarkable cunning, including group behaviors and progressive strategic movement and ambush skills. The result is an entirely immersive playing environment with intensely realistic life forms. Half-Life contains support for Open-GL and Direct 3D and MMX hardware acceleration. Internet multiplayer support for up to 32 players is also included.

Assigned to a top-secret experiment at a decommissioned missile base, you've made an amazing breakthrough, an alarming discovery, and a stupid decision. Now, with the pieces of your colleagues scattered around the lab, you must fight your way past crafty alien monsters to the surface, where a full-scale battle has erupted between the invaders and government troops. Safe at last? No! The military is just as interested in silencing you as they are in eradicating the alien menace. You must make a last ditch attempt to reach the alien world, foil their monstrous schemes, and figure out how to make peace with your own murderous kind.

Along the way you'll discover fantastic experimental weapons, diabolically cunning death squads, and grotesquely beautiful worlds. It will take a fast trigger finger and a faster mind to survive, as not every monster is your enemy and not everything is as it seems.

"Sierra On-Line is thrilled to have the opportunity to publish Half-Life," remarked Ken Williams, CEO of Sierra On-Line. "Valve's enhancements to the Quake engine technology introduce gameplay and design elements that will thrust Half-Life to the forefront of first-person gaming. Gamers will agree that the results are nothing less than mind-boggling."

"Our goal with Half-Life was to build the most exciting and technologically advanced game possible," said Gabe Newell, co-founder and Managing Director of Valve. "When it came to selecting a publisher, it was very clear that Sierra was the most committed to leap-frogging the current generation of games and giving gamers a product that will be head and shoulders above anything else shipping this year."

Valve's prestigious development team is comprised of many well-respected names within the gaming community, including: 3D artist Chuck Jones, formerly with Apogee/3D Realms, where he was an artist and animator for Duke Nukem 3D, Rise of the Triad, Shadow Warrior and the Duke Nukem Plutonium Pack; game and level designer Harry E. Teasley III, former art director of Williams' Doom for Sony Playstation; Tools Architect Ben Morris, creator of DCK (Doom Construction Kit) and WorldCraft; game designers Steve Bond and John Guthrie, creators of the Quake Airplane and Quake Kart; and level designer Dario Casali, one of the world's best-known deathmatch level designers, including those found on id Software's Final Doom.

Half-Life, on PC CD-ROM, is scheduled to ship in November, 1997 and will be available at most software retailers, as well as through Sierra Direct at (800) 757-7707.

Founded in 1996, Valve develops games software. Based in Kirkland, Washington, the company consists of more than 20 leading artists, game designers and programmers. More information about Valve is available through the company's web site at www.valvesoftware.com.

Sierra On-Line is one of the original developers and largest worldwide publishers of interactive entertainment, productivity and educational software. The company recently merged with CUC International, a technology-driven, membership-services company that provides access to travel, shopping, auto, dining, home improvement, financial and other services to 66.3 million consumers worldwide. The company's common stock is traded on the NYSE under the symbol CUC Intl. Sierra's corporate headquarters are located in Bellevue, WA.

Valve Backgrounder, Half-Life screen shots, and additional information available upon request.

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