January 26^th, 2005 (11:36am) - Take-Two Interactive today announced that it has purchased certain rights to the multi-million unit selling Civilization franchise, and has signed a long-term, multi-title publishing agreement with Firaxis Games, developers of Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri, SimGolf, Gettysburg, Civilization III, Pirates! and other critically acclaimed simulation and strategy games. Kicking off this new partnership will be the highly anticipated Sid Meier’s Civilization IV for PC, which will be published by Take-Two¹s publishing label 2K Games in late 2005, with future expansions and additional PC and console games to follow.

"The Civilization name brings with it an expectation of quality from millions of fans around the world," said Susan Lewis, Vice President of Publishing for 2K Games. "It is a pleasure to be working with a company like Firaxis that has developers who have proven with every successive title that they are masters of this genre."

"We are extremely pleased to be partnering with 2K Games on a new journey into the evolving world of Civilization," said Jeff Briggs, Founder, President and CEO of Firaxis Games. "2K Games’ emergence as a publisher dedicated to producing high-quality, genre-defining games ensures that Civilization IV and Firaxis titles will continue to push the creative envelope and reach bigger audiences than ever before."

"In Civilization, we’ve created a world with endless possibilities that has been embraced by game players all over the globe," said Sid Meier, Director of Creative Development at Firaxis Games. "With the upcoming addition of Civilization IV, our core fans and newcomers alike will enter a world of unparalleled scope and detail."

The fourth game in the PC strategy series that has sold over five million copies, Sid Meier’s Civilization IV is a bold step forward for the franchise, with spectacular new 3D graphics and all-new single and multiplayer content. Civilization IV will also allow gamers to create their own add-ons using the standard Python and XML scripting languages.

Sid Meier’s Civilization IV will be released for PC in late 2005. For more information please visit www.firaxis.com