EIDOS ANNOUNCES BLOOD MONEY

Eidos, one of the world's leading publishers and developers of entertainment software, announces the return of the world's deadliest assassin in Hitman: Blood Money(TM).

Developed by Io-Interactive, Hitman: Blood Money will be released worldwide in spring 2005 on PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC. When assassins from Agent 47's contract agency, The ICA, are systematically eliminated in a series of hits, it seems a larger, more powerful agency has entered the fray.

For Agent 47 it's business as usual, until suddenly he loses contact with The ICA. Sensing that he may be the next target, he travels to America, where he prepares to make a killing.

Agent 47 is back and this time he's paid in cold, hard cash. How the money is spent will affect his passage through the game and the weapons at his disposal, resulting in a unique gameplay experience for each player. Powered by a new version of Io's stunning Glacier engine, Hitman: Blood Money will deliver the most brutal and realistic simulation of life as the world's deadliest assassin.

Mike McGarvey, ceo of Eidos says: "The Hitman series is one of Eidos' biggest franchises and goes from strength to strength with every new instalment. Io-Interactive is one of the world's most accomplished developers, and yet again has raised the stakes in terms of graphics and gameplay with Hitman: Blood Money."

Janos Flösser, managing director of Io-Interactive says: "Considerable time and effort has been spent developing a new version of the Glacier engine that enables us to implement many new and exciting features. The quality of the graphics and A.I. surpasses even our own expectations and this combined with a gripping narrative and the introduction of some really inventive characters makes us confident that Blood Money will be the greatest Hitman title to date."