February 18^th, 2005 (10:20am) - Sega has announced the development of Condemned, a suspense-filled, first-person psychological thriller game for the next generation of game consoles and the PC. The hunt for a serial killer has never seemed so terrifyingly real, prompting top gaming enthusiast publication Game Informer to comment that: "Condemned has redefined the horror genre (March 2005)."

Developed by award-winning Monolith Productions, the game allows players to experience an unnatural level of psychological tension as they use their instincts, forensic tools, and melee combat to track serial killers and bring them to justice. Gamers will play as Ethan Thomas, an FBI agent in the Serial Crimes Unit (SCU), whose pursuit of relentless serial killers leads him through detailed urban environments filled with deadly sociopaths who lurk on the periphery of humanity.

"Sega expects Condemned to engage the game player with visceral, in-your-face, urban combat and an unparalleled level of unpredictability," said Scott A. Steinberg, vice president of entertainment marketing, Sega of America. "The atmospheric tension and cinematic qualities of Condemned offer consumers the rich experience of a psychological thriller; something that has not been accomplished on previous hardware platforms."

"To become a leading independent game publisher, we must reinvigorate the SEGA brand by publishing great content that boosts revenue across all western territories," said Simon Jeffery, president and COO, SEGA of America. "Condemned represents an aggressive product acquisition strategy created to compliment SEGA IP with market-appropriate next-generation games."

"New leaps in technology are allowing our teams to create immersive game environments that are incredibly realistic," said Samantha Ryan, CEO of Monolith Productions. "Monolith’s goal with Condemned, is to combine a disturbing atmosphere with realistic physics, devious AI, and a sophisticated combat system."

Condemned, the first next-generation console and PC game announced by Sega, is slated to ship in Winter 2005 (rumored to be available for the Xbox 2 near its launch).