AMD(R) Professional Gamers League(TM) Announces Season 3 Plans

    SAN FRANCISCO, July 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The AMD(R) (NYSE:   AMD) Professional
 Gamers' League(TM) (PGL(TM)) today announced that its third season will
 involve some significant structural changes, all geared to providing the avid
 gamer community with the best possible pro gaming environment.  In keeping
 with its tradition of featuring hot new action and strategy games, the PGL
 will work in concert with Blizzard Entertainment(R) to support that leading
 developer's latest megabit, StarCraft(TM), in the league's strategy category,
 along with id Software's Quake(R) II in the Action category.  StarCraft
 qualification and regular season matches will take place on Blizzard's popular
 Battle.net(TM) online gaming service, marking the first time that PGL activity
 has not occurred exclusively on the Total Entertainment Network (TEN) online
 gaming service.  ( http://www.pgl.com )
     In addition, the PGL is providing additional prize monies for
 Season 3, such that $20,000 in cash will be awarded in each of the
 two 1-on-1 categories, as opposed to $15,000 per category in previous seasons.
 With the championships of the new Action Teamplay (Quake clans) category also
 occurring at the Season 3 live finals, a total of $70,000 in cash and more
 than $30,000 in prizes will be distributed during the league's third season.
     "While TEN is the founder and owner of the PGL and continues to host much
 of each season's online competition, we've said all along that the league is
 essentially operated independently of TEN, and this agreement with Blizzard
 further establishes that," said Greg Harper, vice president of business
 development for TEN.  "The PGL has the potential to be bigger than any single
 online gaming service or solution, and we're dedicated to growing the league
 as expeditiously as possible."
     "We're extremely pleased to have StarCraft featured in the upcoming PGL
 season," said Paul Sam, Blizzard vice president of business development.
 "Inclusion in the PGL gives Gamers the opportunity to be the first to play
 StarCraft in a pro gaming environment.  Battle.net is the environment best
 suited to 'hosting' competitive StarCraft matches, and we're working closely
 with the PGL to ensure the highest levels of security, stability and
 performance for players."
     Players interested in competing in the PGL must register at the PGL Web
 site ( http://www.pgl.com ) and pay the standard $9.95 entry fee for
 Season 3.  The PGL Web site will carry news on the league's third season,
 including screen shots, game summaries and downloadable demos from matches,
 interviews with top players, updated "standings," and more.  PGL and Blizzard
 representatives will work in concert to manage the StarCraft competition on a
 daily basis.
     With the addition of $5,000 to each of the 1-on-1 category prize pools,
 Season 3 top finishers in each of the two categories will be rewarded as
 follows:
 
                                  Cash       Prizes
 
     1st Place:                 $  8,500    $  3,500
     2nd Place:                 $  4,500    $  3,500
     3rd Place:                 $  3,200    $  3,500
     4th Place:                 $  1,400    $  3,500
     5th - 8th Place:           $    300    $    500
     9th - 16th Place:          $    150
     Total (x two categories):  $ 40,000    $ 34,000
 
     As previously stated, the first-, second-, third- and fourth-place
 finishers in the Action Teamplay category will receive $14,000, $8,000,
 $5,000 and $3,000 respectively, for a total of $30,000.  (for a complete list
 of cash and prize awards by order of finish, visit the PGL Web site)
     Registration for PGL Season 3 will open July 30; the full
 Season 3 schedule is as follows:
 
     Registration:    July 30 - September 4
     Qualifications:  August 14 - September 6
     Regular Season:  September 13 - October 18
     Live Finals:     November 12 - November 14
 
     To participate in the PGL, players must register for the league at
 http://www.pgl.com and either subscribe to the TEN service or pay the PGL
 entry fee of $9.95 per three-month season.
 
     About AMD
     AMD is a global supplier of integrated circuits for the personal and
 networked computer and communications markets.  AMD produces processors, flash
 memories, programmable logic devices, and products for communications and
 networking applications.  Founded in 1969 and based in Sunnyvale, California,
 AMD had revenues of $2.4 billion in 1997.
 
     About Blizzard Entertainment
     Best known for the number-one selling Warcraft(R) series and blockbuster
 hits StarCraft and Diablo(T), Blizzard Entertainment is a premier publisher of
 entertainment software and a division of Cendant Software, subsidiary of
 Cendant Corporation.
 
     About the PGL
     The PGL is a property of Total Entertainment Network(TM) (TEN(TM)), the
 premier entertainment network for game playing consumers on the Internet.  TEN
 has online rights to more than 50 games -- over half of which are TEN
 exclusives -- by leading software publishers including 3D Realms
 Entertainment, Apogee, Blizzard Entertainment, Bungie Software, Cavedog
 Entertainment, Eidos Interactive (formerly Domark), id Software, GT
 Interactive, Maxis, MicroProse, Sierra Online/Papyrus, SSI and Westwood
 Studios.  TEN received its initial funding from Kleiner Perkins Caufield and
 Byers, with subsequent investors including Ameritech; Goldman Sachs;
 Robertson, Stephens & Co.; Vertex Management; Wasserstein Perella Ventures.
     NOTE:  Total Entertainment Network, TEN, the Professional Gamers' League,
 PGL, and the TEN logo are trademarks of T E Network, Inc.  AMD is a registered
 trademark of Advanced Micro Devices.  Quake is a registered trademark of id
 Software.  Warcraft is a registered trademark, and StarCraft and Diablo are
 trademarks, of Blizzard Entertainment.  All other trademarks and registered
 trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
 
 

SOURCE  AMD Professional Gamers' League