Space Empires: Starfury Enhancements Mean a Little More Time in Drydock!

Cary, NC, 16 July 2003 — Originally slated for a summer release, with a
pre-release order phase through mid-July, Shrapnel Games regretfully announces
that the eagerly awaited next chapter in the Space Empires saga, Space Empires:
Starfury, will be delayed until early autumn. Gold status is currently projected
as September 1st , and the five-dollar pre-release discount will now extend
until July 31st.

Very often in the industry a delayed release means that a game isn’t quite ready
for prime time ("What do you mean you forgot the AI? Can’t we just ship it and
call it an online multiplayer only game?") or the developers blew through their
budget. Thankfully neither applies to the status of Space Empires: Starfury. The
game is coming along great, and Malfador Machinations have held back on the
Ferrari’s downpayment. So why the delay?

Simple. The Space Empires series has always been a user-friendly series, with a
huge debt owed to the wonderful fans, who after all the years might as well be
called family. Aaron Hall and company have always listened to these individuals,
and because of this every Space Empires game has been better than the one
before.

During recent beta testing a number of excellent suggestions were voiced by the
testers. In fact, great ideas continue to pour into Malfador’s mailbox. To work
these fantastic fan suggestions into Space Empires: Starfury though means more
time is now needed. Hence, the slight delay.

At Shrapnel Games we’re gamers too, and we understand that the bitter fruit of
waiting is not something you really want to bite into, but we think the fact
that the delay is caused by trying to fit even more excellence into the game is
a tasty sugarcoat. And for those of you concerned that perhaps not every good
idea will make it in, don’t forget that Space Empires: Starfury will be as mod
friendly as Space Empires IV.