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Strategy First Acquires Malfador Machinations

by Rainier on April 4, 2006 @ 8:48 a.m. PDT

Strategy First announced today that it had acquired all of the intellectual property assets of Malfador Machinations, and as a result Aaron Hall, Malfador's president and CEO, has joined the Strategy First management team to direct the ongoing development of Malfador's successful Space Empires franchise under the Strategy First banner.

Founded in 1995, Malfador Machinations and Aaron Hall have achieved widespread industry recognition as the leading space genre game developer through the remarkable series of award-winning titles in the Space Empires franchise. The first four Space Empires games have garnered a cult following in the game community, and have sold over 30,000 copies primarily through online distribution. The latest game in the series, Space Empires V, will be released in the next few months.

Clive Kabatznik, president and CEO of Silverstar Holdings, said, "This acquisition is a further step in fulfilling our strategy of becoming an owner of promising, profitable entertainment software and media companies. As a leading international game software publisher, Strategy First is ideally placed to identify promising game franchises that can add significant value for our shareholders."

"We have monitored the consumer acceptance of the Space Empires franchise since entering into an exclusive distribution and publishing agreement with Malfador in early 2005. The remarkable, ongoing sales of existing games and the tremendous, built-up anticipation for the release of Space Empires V give us confidence that the intellectual property we have acquired will have long-term value as the preeminent space genre game franchise.

Mr. Kabatznik concluded, "This transaction is immediately accretive to earnings, and we are pleased that Aaron Hall has joined our team. We will continue to seek and secure similar acquisition opportunities in the future."

"I'm absolutely delighted to be part of the Strategy First family," said Aaron Hall, president of Malfador Machinations. "They have already been helpful in positioning the Space Empires franchise going forward, and our combined talents will make this already successful property even stronger in the future."

"We're excited to add the Space Empires series to our library of award-winning titles which already include the successful Jagged Alliance and Disciples franchises," said Don McFatridge, president of Strategy First. "We now have three popular franchises under active development, and we've gained the expertise of Aaron Hall, one of the industry's leading development luminaries."

Malfador Machinations, founded in 1995, is a noted developer of PC strategy games. Its previous titles include "Space Empires II," "Space Empires III," "Space Empires IV," "Space Empires IV Gold," "Dungeon Odyssey," and "Space Empires: Starfury." Malfador Machinations is based in Santa Rosa, CA.

For more information on Malfador Machinations, visit www.malfador.com.

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