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Natural Selection 2

Playable alpha access announced and dated.

San Francisco, CA – July 13th, 2010 - Unknown Worlds, developers of Natural Selection 2, have set a date for their anticipated playable alpha. In two weeks, on Monday, July 26th, anyone that has pre-ordered NS2 Special Edition will get alpha access. This special edition, which also gives players exclusive all-black marine armor, will not be available after that date. The introductory pricing will also end at that time and the regular edition price will increase (currently $20). Over 12,000 players have pre-ordered to date.

“We actively supported the original Natural Selection over a period of five years and 20 versions. We added 18 maps, new weapons, alien movement abilities and a new gameplay mode. Getting NS2 to a playable alpha state marks the beginning of a new journey for us - one that we intend to support just as much.”

“Instead of taking the big-company approach and not giving access to a game until it’s too late to make major changes, we wanted to give our fervent community early access so we can make the game the best it can be. We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for our community and their support so it only seems right that we let them try NS2 at the earliest phase.”

About Natural Selection 2Natural Selection 2 is the sequel to the popular Half-life mod, Natural Selection, which was the most popular independent Half-life mod and was played by over 300,000 players for over 2 billion player-minutes. Natural Selection 2 is a online-only first-person shooter and real-time strategy hybrid. Players can play as marines, aliens or commanders and fight in atmospheric sci-fi environments. It features:

Truly unique sides. Whether you play as one of the elite marine Frontiersmen or the vicious alien Kharaa, you must use unique strategies and your abilities to win. Marines form persistent squads to find and destroy alien hives. Aliens can choose a wall-running Skulk, pudgy Gorge, flying Lerk, murderous Fade or gigantic Onos that can smash through doors. Real-time strategy. Commanders play from overhead to lead their team to victory. Build structures anywhere, collect resources and research upgrades. Marines buy weapons at an Armory or build sentry turrets and siege cannons to assault the enemy. Aliens build chambers, evolve special abilities and plant traps. Dynamic environments. Spreading alien infestation deforms hallways and causes space station power failure, turning off lights and shutting down marine powered structures. Use a flamethrower to clear infestation or weld a bulkhead shut for a last defense. Every game is different. Unlimited variations. WYSIWYG graphical tools and powerful scripting allow you to create new weapons, scenarios or entirely new games. You'll get all our tools and Lua source code we're using to build NS2. Ongoing automatic updates keep the game fresh by adding new maps, weapons and abilities.

We have released our simple game tools, SDK and our environment art to everyone that pre-ordered the game for testing, feedback and to jump-start community mapping. For more information about Natural Selection 2, please visit http://www.naturalselection2.com/.

Content © 2002-2010 Unknown Worlds Entertainment, Inc.

All Rights Reserved.

About Unknown Worlds

Unknown Worlds is a 7-person independent game studio in downtown San Francisco, CA. We've worked on games like Titan Quest, Lair and Empire Earth as well as mods and indie games like Natural Selection, Insurgency and GDC IGF Finalist Cogs.

The early stage of the company was funded exclusively through player donations. Now we are also funded both through private investment and through over 12,000 pre-orders. To learn more, please visit us at http://www.unknownworlds.com/.

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