CRUSADER KINGS - GRAND STRATEGY FOR 'LION HEART' GAMERS BASINGSTOKE, England (July 5th, 2004) - KOCH MEDIA announced today the UK release of CRUSADER KINGS from PARADOX ENTERTAINMENT. Set during medieval Europe, this grand strategy game lets players re-enact the Crusades, take control of the Knights Templar and defend against the marauding Mongol hordes. Published and distributed by KOCH MEDIA in the UK, CRUSADER KINGS is launched on Windows PCCD at £19.99 SRP (UK) on 27th August 2004. Crusader Kings is a grand scale strategy game focused on the feudal kingdoms of medieval Europe in the time period of 1066 to 1453 A.D. Based on the Europa Universalis engine, players influence decisions over the 'known world' - across Europe, stretching roughly to the Urals in the east and including parts of Persia and the Arabian Peninsula as well as the coast of North Africa. One revolutionary feature in Crusader Kings is that the game is more about prestige and wealth than traditional empire building. To the player, the honour and power of the royal dynasty are more important than the expansion of the nation's borders (although that is of course still an important aspect of the game). In Crusader Kings, players also have to deal with the feudal lords and bishops that rule the various provinces. To retain the focus on medieval feudalism and chivalry, merchant republics like Venice, Genoa and the Hanseatic League are not playable nations; neither are the Mongol hordes nor the three Caliphates. The playable nations are limited to Christian monarchies, principalities and empires. The goal of the game is to amass as much Prestige and Piety as possible for your dynasty. FEATURES: Pausable real-time grand-strategy - based on the engine used by the award winning EU-series. Unique historical settings - re-enact the crusades, defend against the Mongol onslaught, and form feudal nation-states in Europe. A simulation of a feudal society, as never before seen in a game, involving laws, commissions, nobles, priests, burghers and peasants as well as religious influences. An evolutionary combat system - which will simulate the effect from Mongolian light cavalry to the English longbow men. Saved games from Crusader Kings can be converted into the format of EU 2! See your dynasty progress - get rewards from the Pope by being successful in the crusades! Institute and take control of religious orders - choose between the Knight's Templar like The Knights of St John and The Teutonic Order. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: MINIMUM Windows 98/ ME / 2000 / XP Pentium III 450 MHz 128 Mb RAM 600 MB Free Hard Drive Space 4 Mb Video Card DirectX Compatible DirectX compatible Sound Card DirectX 9.0 or higher (included on the CD) Published and distributed by KOCH MEDIA in the UK, CRUSADER KINGS from PARADOX ENTERTAINEMNT is launched on Windows PCCD at £19.99 SRP (UK) on 27th August 2004. About KOCH MEDIA UK: Founded in 1994, KOCH MEDIA UK develops, publishes and distributes a diverse mix of titles for home console gaming systems, personal computers and the Internet. Based in Basingstoke, the company has distribution contracts with a number of software publishers, including NINTENDO. For publishers not in the UK, KOCH MEDIA exclusively markets, sells and distributes titles. Under its own brands of DEEP SILVER and EUROPRESS, KOCH MEDIA develops and publishes its own range of gaming and educational and lifestyle software. For more information on KOCH MEDIA and its products, visit www.kochmedia.co.uk