INTERPLAY TO ACQUIRE SHINY, MAKERS OF WORLD-WIDE HIT VIDEO GAME EARTHWORM
JIM

(Animated Series & Toy Line Based On Game Forthcoming)

May 12, 1995 -- Irvine, California -- In the first acquisition in its
corporate history, Interplay Productions announced today the acquisition
of Shiny Entertainment, makers of the world-wide critical and commercial
hit video game Earthworm Jim which was distributed on the Playmates
Interactive label. The game was the recipient of approximately fifteen
industry awards during the last twelve months, including SEGA Product Of
The Year and the European Golden Joystick Award. Irvine-based Interplay
Productions is a manufacturer and distributor of a wide range of
entertainment and educational software, including Descent, which is
currently the #1 game on the Internet.

"This acquisition marks a great milestone for our company," said Brian
Fargo, president of Interplay. "David Perry, president and founder of
Shiny, is a very gifted man. In addition to Earthworm Jim, David led the
creative teams on the video game Aladdin, and I was impressed with his
team of incredibly talented people at Shiny. They will continue to operate
as they always have.

Although there were many other bidders for Shiny, this agreement was
destined to happen simply because Interplay's and Shiny's company cultures
are a great match. We have been known for a long time as a developer and
publisher of great CD-ROM products, but with the acquisition of Shiny, we
now are also in that same league with our console products."

"We spent a great deal of time building not only our software but Shiny
itself into the company that it is, and that same care went into our
decision to become part of Interplay," said David Perry. "We are very
pleased to join Interplay and continue to bring quality entertainment to
gamers worldwide." Interplay plans to keep the Shiny label intact and will
be looking at ways of expanding into other media. Earthworm Jim is to be
featured in a major line of toys from Playmates Toys, Inc. and this fall
will be featured in a new television series from Universal Cartoon Studios
on the Warner Kids' Network. "Now that these companies have joined
forces," said Jeff Segal, president of MCA/Universal Family Entertainment
and Universal Cartoon Studios, "we anticipate a greatly-enhanced working
relationship between the three companies as we jointly develop properties
as games and for television and theatrical motion pictures."

MCA/Universal and Interplay are forming a joint team for the purpose of
developing properties which can be produced concurrently as game software
and for television or film. Ralph Sanchez, MCA/Universal Family
Entertainment director of development, will coordinate the team for
Universal Family Entertainment/Cartoon Studios. Both companies are
delighted at the prospect of Shiny's participation in this creative
venture.

Universal Cartoon Studios has been working with Shiny Entertainment for
nearly a year on the animated television series based on Shiny's Earthworm
Jim. Shiny has also been working closely with Playmates to produce the
Earthworm Jim toy line which is widely anticipated by the industry. The
show is scheduled to premiere with thirteen episodes in September 1995 on
the Warner Kids' Network.

According to Sanchez, the joint Interplay/Universal development team will
put at least three new properties into development during 1995. "We are
hoping that we can launch our first series together for the 1996-1997
television season," he added. "We have also already begun conversations
with Shiny on our next projects together and hope to make some decisions
soon."

Shiny Entertainment is headquartered in Laguna Beach, California. The
company owns the worldwide trademarks to the patented Animotion process
that takes cartoon animation and places it directly into interactive
entertainment software.

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