Wing Commander IV First Light

Below you will find the first Wing Commander IV press release, published by Origin's media relations department in June, 1995. This was the first official word anyone had that another Wing Commander game was on the way--though we all suspected.

Contact: David Swofford or Eileen McKeon Butt
ORIGIN Media Relations

The Space Epic Continues with
Wing Commander IV

(AUSTIN, TX)_The best is about to get even better. The PC interactive movie that was called "the new benchmark against which all interactive entertainment will be compared," by PC Gamer magazine is preparing for its next ground-breaking act. Wing Commander IV, currently in production by ORIGIN Systems, is slated for release on PCCD in the coming winter. It follows on the heels of the awarding-winning Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger, named Action Game of the Year and Game of the Year by several gaming publications and featured in Entertainment Weekly, Playboy, USA Today, NBC's Today Show, Entertainment Tonight, CNN, VH-1 and the Sci-Fi Channel.

Like its predecessor, Wing Commander IV will incorporate several hours of live-action video and will feature many talented actors from the cast of Wing Commander III: Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange, Star Trek: Generations), Mark Hamill (Star Wars) and Tom Wilson (Back to the Future I, II and III). A seven-week shooting schedule is planned for Wing Commander IV at Ren-Mar Studios in Hollywood starting the end of May. Executive Producer Chris Roberts, the creator of the Wing Commander line, will be back in the director's chair.

The story, once again, comes from veteran Hollywood screenwriters Terry Borst and Frank DePalma, who wrote the script for Wing Commander III. In Wing Commander IV, you again play the role of Col. Christopher Blair (Hamill). The bloody war between the humans and the cat-like Kilrathi is over. But problems are beginning to crop up on a new front and this time it's in your own back yard. Civil wars and unrest have broken out in the Border Worlds. Blair is recalled to help the Terran government stamp out the growing fires. It won't be easy. Signs of decay are becoming impossible to ignore. The Confederation is beginning to splinter under the new pressures and you must determine how to save it_or if it should be saved at all.

Wing Commander IV will sport moving camera shots and real movie sets, giving a more authentic feel to the cinematics. The graphics will explode in Super VGA color and will be much improved with photo-realistic textures on fighters. Player interactivity will be enhanced both in and out of the cockpit with even greater control of missions and drama. And Wing Commander IV will feature a fully-digitized interactive musical score.

It's an ORIGIN Interactive Movie experience. Once again, the fate of the human race hangs in the balance, but remember, in this movie, you're making the calls.

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ORIGIN, We create worlds, Wing Commander and Ultima are registered trademarks of ORIGIN Systems, Inc. Origin Interactive Movie and Heart of the Tiger are trademarks of ORIGIN Systems, Inc. Electronic Arts is a registered trademark of Electronic Arts. All other products and trademarks are property of their respective owners.
ORIGIN Systems develops and publishes state-of-the-art entertainment software. To date, the company has released more than 45 titles, including the award-winning Ultima and Commander series of games. ORIGIN is based in Austin, Texas, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS).