FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
6th September 1998

GANGSTERS, GRIT AND URBAN DECAY 
AS INTERPLAY ANNOUNCES KINGPIN AT ECTS
(Surreal new action title from Xatrix coming to PC)  

Somewhere in a past that never crossed paths with the future lies the underworld of Kingpin™. This gritty, film noir-style title is in development with Xatrix Entertainment, the creators of the camp hit Redneck Rampage™, and was announced today at the European Computer Trade Show (ECTS) in London by Interplay Productions.  The first-person action game for Windows® 95-based computers is expected to release in Spring 1999. 

Beginning in familiar urban settings that allude to the south side of 1930’s Chicago, Kingpin takes players on an adventure that quickly progresses into an alternative, “retro-tech” past. A past where recognisable materials from that era, like radios and vacuum tubes, have been rigged into primitive forms of computer technology.  It is in this bizarre milieu that gamers must navigate dangerous, gangster-infested streets, tensely working their way up while trying to avoid the steely attention of the Kingpin.

“Xatrix proved with Redneck Rampage that they are masters of creating a unique theme and supporting it with technology to make a phenomenal, totally engrossing gaming experience,” said Trish Wright, Vice President of development at Interplay. “When you combine the compelling theme of Kingpin with the Quake II technology, you’re sure to capture the attention of gamers.”

This surreal, at times disturbing, game will be based on an enhanced version of the Quake II™ engine and is designed with an episodic structure that features overlapping adventure and action arcs. Each episode will contain multiple levels and allow more depth than most action games, as players get to know characters and environments while picking up clues and getting the lowdown on situations during the adventure phases of the levels.  

All-out action then later becomes the focus of most levels, culminating with unique “trans-levels” between episodes that bring the action to its peak and transport the player to the next episode. 

These trans-levels always involve some type of vehicle. In one example, the player must fly a gyro-copter in order to hijack a weapons-laden blimp. The action is designed to give the player a sense of geographical space between each episode that adds to the sense of location that defines Kingpin.  

Approximately seven episodes are planned, including Skid Row, with its On The Waterfront, Dead End and Midtown levels; RotoDyne with Perimeter, Steal a Plan and Dr. Z’s Lab levels; and Penthouse with Goons and Robots, OmniVac2000 and Final Confrontation. These locales are inhabited by a host of characters, some sinister and some just quirky, but each with specific behaviors which add to the local colour, and can either help or hinder the player as he tries stealthily to move up in the burned-out turf of the Kingpin.  

Kingpin will be available for Windows® 95-based computers in Spring 1999.

About Interplay Productions Ltd.
http://www.interplay .com.

Interplay Productions Limited [Europe] is a wholly owned subsidiary of Interplay Entertainment Corp., (NASDAQ:IPLY), a leading developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment software for both core gamers and the mass market. Interplay produces titles for many of the most popular entertainment software platforms, and currently balances its development efforts by publishing interactive entertainment software for personal computers and current generation video game consoles, such as the Sony PlayStation and Nintendo 64. Interplay releases products through Interplay, Shiny, and other affiliated labels.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:
This release may contain forward-looking statements involving risks and uncertainties that may cause actual future events or results to differ materially and adversely from those described in the forward-looking statements.  Important factors that may cause such a difference for Interplay include, but are not limited to, risks of delays in development and introduction of new products, dependence on new product introductions which achieve significant market acceptance and the uncertainties of consumer preferences, dependence on third party software developers for a significant portion of new products, risks of rapid technological change and platform change, intense competition, seasonality, risks of product defects, dependence upon licenses from third parties, risks associated with future capital requirements, dependence upon third party distribution, dependence upon key personnel and risks associated with international business, intellectual property disputes and other factors discussed in the Company's filings from time to time with the Securities Exchange Commission, including but not limited to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 as amended (Registration Number 333-48473) and Final Prospectus dated June 19, 1998 and the Company's subsequent quarterly filings on Form 10Q.  Interplay disclaims any obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by it or on its behalf.
Note: All trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.	

For more information please contact:
Allison Grant on +44 (0) 1628 423666
Email: agrant@interplay-uk.com