We are pleased to confirm that update 1.2 will be available for download during Friday 28 October 2005. To download and update your game, please click on your "Check for Update" button as shown.

For your reference, a further 1.3 update will follow in mid-November. Along with various minor issues, this is planned to make a large further optimisation for memory usage that will again significantly improve performance over 1.2.

There are several fixes and enchancements that are included in this update (some of which you will not even have tried yet), the main ones of which are:

- added support for more joystick models
- fixed random crash on entering a sector
- voice and audio syncronisation fixed
- performance optimisations including reduced memory consumption and shader enhancements
- improved menu design
- gamestart position modified to improve trading options at the start
- complex construction of factory positioning improved
- Tool tips added to assist in learning the menu Icon System
- added ability to scroll menu bars with mouse
- docking made easier, plus additional docking guide added
- plot gameplay improved in key game parts
- cut scenes re-produced, re-directed and optimised
- added content for infostation help dialogues

as well as many more smaller issues resolved.

Enlight have today confirmed that X3: Reunion will be available for retail in US stores from 5 November 2005. Any pre-orders made with them will ship out on 4 November 2005.

Release dates for other published areas will follow when possible.

X3: Reunion will arrive in stores next week. But before it arrives, the folks at Egosoft have decided to give you an idea of what a typical day is like in their ambitious and huge space sim. In X3, you will be able to chart your own course in a living, breathing universe. You can choose to be a mercenary or a trader, you can build an economic empire, or you can live on the edge, exploring the unknown. That's a lot of stuff to do, so Egosoft's Greg Kingston was kind enough to describe some of the gameplay possibilities in our final designer diary for the game. X3 will arrive for the PC and Xbox soon.

Check out the rest here

X3 : Reunion Soars to Gold

BASINGSTOKE, ENGLAND (OCTOBER 17TH 2005) - DEEP SILVER and EGOSOFT are excited to finally announce that X³: REUNION has gone GOLD and will be blasting to players PC's from the 28th October 2005

The sequel to the award-winning PC title X²: The Threat; X³: Reunion is an in-depth space simulation that thrusts players into an epic battle for control of the universe. The latest in graphics technology and a multi-purpose interface allow the player to fight, barter, pirate, police, steal and trade their way to domination. Featuring a real dynamically interactive AI and economic model, NPC pilots will help or hinder players on the way to salvation for the universe.



"In X³: Reunion, the universe has been developed with complete input from the fan community. A multitude of new missions, countless hidden items to find and unlock, NPCs to barter, trade and compete in factory building make for a challenged unparallel in the space simulation genre. The addition of new worlds, alien races and a plot that will keep you playing into long into the early hours, X³ propels space gaming back to the forefront of the gaming world in a way not seen since Elite was first released," said Bernd Lehahn, CEO EGOSOFT Studios. "With a unique open-ended style of game play, X³ is everything to all players: an action combat adventure, a trading simulation and a factory-building challenge, the player will think their way through the ultimate challenge in 21st century gaming."



Features for X³: Reunion Include:

* Revolutionary in-house DirectX 9 engine, featuring the latest in graphical technology. Full use of the entire range of pixel shader technology is used to create realistic reflections
* Defeat your enemies through combat or commerce, blockades and building. Compete against traders who learn and improve as the game progresses
* Multi-functional user interface, offering complete user-defined control by mouse, keyboard, game pad or joystick of the unique X universe physics with controlled semi-Newtonian drifting
* Over 200 main game models designed in incredible detail and over 10,000 independent active objects interacting in the same real time environment as the player
* Additional content added post-release, including new missions, models, AI updates and new 3D content
* Vast factories in different sizes and constructs, spanning tens of kilometers in length built by NPCs and player alike

Sunday 16th October 2005

Egosoft is today pleased to announce that X3: Reunion, the latest in the exciting space simulation series of X-Universe games has "gone Gold" with release dates to be shortly confirmed by regional publishers. The UK anticipated release date is expected to be confirmed by Deepsilver as 28 October 2005. The German version will follow very soon after.

Speaking from the Egosoft HQ in Würselen, Germany CEO Bernd Lehahn confirmed "X3 marks a genuine and dramatic milestone in our game development. Close on 2 years of hard work have brought us to the point where we are ready to take the space genre onto a whole new level and directly into the mainstream of gaming, and to keep it fresh into the future."

Egosoft would like to thank our staff, publishers and all the fans who have helped bring us this far, and will continue with us for the future.

As a result of the news we have all been waiting so long for, you can now pre-order X3: Reunion direct from the Egosoft shop. English versions will be available first, and as a bonus will be shipping with a free copy of Helge Kautz's Farnham's Legend.

Stocks of this popular book, outlining the fiction and history behind the creation and characters of the X-Universe are strictly limited however, so they will be delivered on a first-come first-served basis.

Pre-orders are likely to be the English United Kingdom version no matter the destination region, and will be released on DVD. Orders will be sent via air-mail to destinations outside of Germany - should any changes be made to this early news then we will update you as soon as possible.

German pre-orders have two separate options as listed in the Egosoft online shop. One is the standard DVD version, whilst the other is the Collectors Edition, with the additional bonus material as already listed.

Lastly, whilst X³: Reunion is available exclusively on DVD in Europe, we are pleased to confirm that our US publishers Enlight will be distributing on both CD and DVD. Different formats may be exclusive to certain retailers, and once final local agreements are reached we will be pleased to update you all.

There is a living breathing universe waiting for you to fight, barter, steal, pirate, police, trade and build your way through it. Are you up to the challenge to claim the ultimate prize?

Egosoft are pleased to confirm that X³: Reunion will very soon be available for pre-order in the online shop in English and German versions, as well as through your local retailers and publishers. Additional languages, including French, Italian and Russian will be available very soon after.

There will also be an exclusive German Collectors Edition available which includes a copy of Helge Kautz's renowned X-Universe novel Farnham's Legend as well as an X-Universe calendar. Rumour has it that Farnham's Legend will also be available in limited edition in English, so keep your eyes peeled on where to find this.

X³: Reunion is developed by Egosoft and will be distributed worldwide by Koch Media, Deepsilver and Enlight shortly. Watch this space for further news.