LONDON, ECTS Convention, Sept. 8 /PRNewswire/ — Blizzard Entertainment(R) and 3Dfx Interactive(R), Inc. (Nasdaq: TDFX – news) today announced that Diablo(TM) II, sequel to Blizzard’s top selling roll-playing game of 1997, will include native support for 3Dfx hardware. Blizzard is one of the first to develop on the newly announced Glide(TM) 3 software from 3Dfx.
“We want our players to be able to take advantage of the best hardware with 3Dfx support — making the Diablo II world more realistic and alive,” said Mike Morhaime, president and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment. “Additionally, the 3Dfx Glide 3 offers optimal flexibility for our game developers who want access to the innermost regions of the architecture.”
Diablo II is the most significant game to combine 2D elements such as sprite-based characters with 3D elements such as colored lighting and atmospheric effects. Tailored to be a value-added feature for computers with 3Dfx hardware, Diablo II’s 3Dfx support improves the game’s frame rate, as well as the general quality of lighting and other visual effects
Blizzard’s support of our native hardware acceleration for Diablo II further demonstrates that the best titles consistently support 3Dfx hardware,” said Scott Sellers, senior vice president of product development for 3Dfx Interactive. “3Dfx continues to provide consumers with the best combination of software titles and 3D acceleration for the entertainment market.”
In Diablo II, players return to a dark world plagued by evil forces. After possessing the body of the hero who defeated him, Diablo resumes his nefarious scheme to shackle humanity into unholy slavery by summoning the powers of the other Prime Evils, Mephisto and Baal. As one of five heroes, players face a new series of quests to rid the world of Diablo and his vile brethren forever.
Diablo was an instant hit among gamers and debuted last year as the number-one selling game its first month in stores. Since releasing, the game has sold nearly 2 million copies worldwide and was the number one selling role-playing game in 1997.
Diablo II is being developed by the Blizzard North design team and is expected to release next year in Windows(R)95/98/NT CD-ROM format. The game will be available at most computer and software retail chains worldwide. The game will also be offered directly from Blizzard at (800) 953-SNOW and www.blizzard.com.
About Blizzard Entertainment
Best known for the number-one selling Warcraft(R) series and the blockbuster hits Starcraft(TM) and Diablo(TM), Blizzard Entertainment(R) is a premier publisher of entertainment software, and a division of Cendant Software, subsidiary of Cendant Corporation.
About 3Dfx Interactive
3Dfx Interactive develops high-performance, cost-effective 3D media processors, software and related technology that are designed to enable a highly immersive, interactive and realistic 3D experience across interactive electronic entertainment platforms – personal computers, coin-operated arcade systems and location-based entertainment. Current 3Dfx Interactive products include the Voodoo(TM) family of accelerator chip sets, Voodoo2(TM), Voodoo Graphics(R) and Voodoo Banshee(TM). Visit the company on the Web at http://www.3dfx.com.
3Dfx Interactive and Voodoo Graphics are registered trademarks and Voodoo, Voodoo2, Voodoo Banshee and Glide are trademarks of 3Dfx Interactive. All other names may be trademarks of their respective holders.