Get Closer To The Animals This Friday As Zoo Tycoon 2 Hits Store Shelves

Perfect Gift for any Member of the Family This Christmas, Zoo Tycoon 2 Available Friday 26th November

Microsoft Game Studios today announced that Zoo Tycoon^TM 2 will be available in UK retail stores from Friday 26th November for £29.99 (UK) Zoo Tycoon 2 is certain to captivate players of all ages with its fantastic 3-D zookeeper experience chock-full of interactive animals and beautiful graphics.

Additionally, players will find they can continuously expand their zoos with free monthly content downloads from www.zootycoon.com.

For a limited time this Christmas season, players can also Win the Chance to become a Zoo Keeper for the day by entering the competition featured at www.zookeeper4aday.com. The site also features exciting e-cards, wallpaper for your PC as well as a playable demo of Zoo Tycoon 2.

"Zoo Tycoon 2 is an ideal gift for anyone on your shopping list this holiday season," said Stephen McGill, Head of UK PC Games Marketing. "Animal lovers and zoo-goers everywhere can now experience first hand the enjoyment of building and managing the ultimate zoo." Zoo Tycoon 2 will get players up close to and interacting with the animals in their zoos, offering intuitive controls and fun tutorials that allow players of all ages to enjoy the game right out of the box. Players will be immersed in the zoo experience with new features, including the Zoo Guest mode, in which players can walk around and enjoy the game like visitors on a day at the zoo; Zoo Keeper mode, allowing players to care for their animals as never before; and a new Photo Safari Mode. Players can take pictures of their favorite animals and guests and share them online with friends. The Zoopedia, full of entertaining and interesting facts about animals, rounds out the new and improved features of the game.

Zoo Tycoon 2 cranks up the excitement, challenge and fun of building the ultimate zoo, with lots of animals in incredible detail with more fun animations and a dazzling array of building tools and objects, including robust terrain-altering options, scenery, foliage, themed buildings, animal shelters and moats. Gameplay has been enhanced from that of the original title, with new challenge modes for added depth and 3-D graphics that allow players to keep a closer eye on the action and craft more creative zoos. Zoo Tycoon 2 was developed by Blue Fang Games. For more information about Zoo Tycoon 2, please visit www.zookeeper4aday.com.

Zoo Tycoon has been a hugely successful game franchise since its launch in 2001. Simple to play yet challenging to master, Zoo Tycoon offers engaging gameplay for animal lovers and simulation game fans of all ages. The captivating imagery, clever gameplay and interactive tutorials in the vibrant and appealing Zoo Tycoon make it easy to play right out of the box. Zoo Tycoon has something for everyone, stimulating creativity and imagination as players respond to the needs of the animals and guests.

Blue Fang Games develops high quality, award winning PC games. Founded in 1998 by veterans of Papyrus Design Group, Blue Fang is dedicated to delivering high quality, interactive computer game titles to consumers around the world. Blue Fang's "Zoo Tycoon" franchise, published by Microsoft Game Studios, has consistently been in the top 10 sales for PC games in the United States and sold over 4 million units worldwide. Blue Fang's experienced team of game developers and designers prides itself on its proprietary project management system that delivers high quality games that are on time and on budget.

Microsoft Game Studios is a leading worldwide publisher and developer of games for the Xbox® video game system, the Windows® operating system and online platforms. Comprising a network of top developers, Microsoft Game Studios is committed to creating innovative and diverse games for Windows (http://www.microsoft.com/uk/games) including such franchises as Age of Empires®, Flight Simulator and Zoo Tycoon®; Xbox (http://www.xbox.com), including such games as Fable® and franchises as Halo®, Project Gotham Racing® and MechAssault®; and MSN® Games (http://www.games.msn.com), the official games channel for the MSN network and home to such hits as Bejeweled and Hexic^TM.

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