The great Nevendaar saga returns!

Akella, a major game publisher and developer based in Russia, and software publisher Strategy First Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Silverstar Holdings, Ltd. (Nasdaq: SSTR), and are pleased to announce the signing of a cooperative deal for the development and worldwide publication of Disciples III: Renaissance, the next game in Strategy First’s famous Disciples franchise.
“It is a great pleasure to be working on this project with Akella and .dat. The team brings immense talent on the table and both Akella and .dat have everything it takes to give this project the world-class polish we wanted for the Disciples franchise.”, said Richard Therrien, VP Product Developments for Strategy First inc.
“We’re glad to work in cooperation with Strategy First. We have gathered unique and talented developers and game-artists to work on the project. Akella and .dat intend to create the most exciting game in the series - keeping the basis of Disciples and Disciples II we will introduce new features in order to provide gamers with more interesting gameplay and realistic graphics”, says Dmitry Arkhipov, VP of development of Akella.
About Disciples III: Renaissance Disciples III: Renaissance is the sequel to Disciples II: Dark Prophecy; the award winning Heroic Fantasy Strategy/Role Playing game. The player takes on the role of the Lord of one of the fantastic races of Nevendaar in their enduring struggle to establish the reign of their respective god over the world. Ripe with surprises and turn-arounds, the story of the world of Nevendaar is played on a somber backdrop and shows a unique as well as stunning style that has players asking for more.
Development: Started in the summer of 2005, the development of Disciples III has been undertaken by Akella, a large Russian developer and publisher in close collaboration with Strategy First Inc. and .Dat Company, a Russian developer and partner of Akella,
Innovations: Advances in game play and the addition of new elements make Disciples III richer and more interesting. The visual design follows the ominous style of the Disciples world, but now all of the game environments and individual units are in stunning real-time 3D.
Disciples III uses .dat’s in-house Virtual Dream engine, which supports all modern 3D technologies, and will initially feature 3 playable races: The Empire, The Legions of the Damned, and the Noble Elves, each with its unique Unit styles and city representation that will allow city sieges, and ending with a battle for the main fortress.
The combat system will be significantly improved with the addition of new elements. Though it remains turn-based, units will move on the battlefield using an improved initiative timer-based system and more advanced interactions between statistical elements that will vary the time of attacks and the order that units take in battle.
At the strategic level, unit turns will also be affected with an initiative factor that will dictate turns at the unit level and not at the Race level. This means increased fluidity in multiplayer and less downtime even in single player.
And there is another new element. In Disciples II, players could use magic only on the Strategic Isometric Map. Disciples III allows a Lord to also use spells on the battlefield. A spell utilizes mana (magic energy) acquired from controlled sources and spell cards that can be bought or found.
As in previous Disciples games, troops receive experience in battle and upon leveling, become more powerful and effective in a way that is dictated by the structure branch selected by the player. Leaders get improved abilities and the player can assign stat bonuses to their liking. An RPG-style system will be implemented for the character advancement screen. Included will be inventory, expanded stats and abilities, as well as a character model that will visually reflect worn armor and equipped weapons and artifacts.

About .dat:

.dat is a Moscow company founded by a talented group who, for many years, worked at Akella and took a major part in the development of Sea Dogs, Pirates of the Caribbean, and other games. They have gathered a team of brilliant designers, programmers, artists, and modelers and are devoted to triple-A-class projects.

About Strategy First

Strategy First Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Silverstar Holdings (Nasdaq: SSTR), is a leading developer and worldwide publisher of entertainment software for the PC. Founded in 1990, the Company is well known for its proprietary groundbreaking titles, such as the award winning Disciples and Jagged Alliance series of games, which are both under continuing development. Simultaneously, Strategy First continues to publish many of the industry’s major titles, winning numerous awards for games such as “Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns,” “Steel Beasts,” and “Galactic Civilizations.” Recent offerings include top releases such as “S.C.S. – Dangerous Waters™” and “Disney’s Aladdin Chess Adventures.” The Company provides a unique alternative for independent developers seeking to market their games to a worldwide audience. www.strategyfirst.com

About Silverstar Holdings

Silverstar Holdings Ltd. is a publicly traded company, focusing on acquiring controlling positions in high growth fee-based electronic game businesses that stand to benefit from the economies of scale generated by Internet and other technology related platforms. It currently owns Strategy First Inc., a leading developer and worldwide publisher of entertainment software for the PC, as well as a stake in Magnolia Broadband, a fab-less semiconductor company and innovator of radio frequency (RF) solutions for the cellular industry. www.silverstarholdings.com

The statements which are not historical facts contained in this press release are forward looking statements that involve certain risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to risks associated with the uncertainty of future financial results, additional financing requirements, development of new products, regulatory approval processes, the impact of competitive products or pricing, technological changes, the effect of economic conditions and other uncertainties detailed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.