The deal gives EON the exclusive publishing rights to the PC versions of Bethesda's acclaimed The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, Sea Dogs 1, and Sea Dogs 2. Both Morrowind and Sea Dogs 1 will be released at the end of 2001, with the forthcoming Sea Dogs 2 sequel to follow in 2002.

Achieving no less than 13 coveted awards in 2001 alone, including The Official E3 Awards 'best RPG of show, nominee'; Gamespot 'Top 20 Games of E3 - Editor's Choice' and 'Best RPG of E3' by leading Internet games site IGN. Morrowind is a further installment in the globally successful and renowned 'The Elder Scrolls' franchise. Morrowind is a truly unique product and is set to push the boundaries of the RPG genre, with its individual consumer-driven approach to game play.

The association with Bethesda Softworks Inc. continues EON's strategy to publish video games of the highest quality, for the world's leading developers.

In Sea Dogs, players guide a small ship and its crew around the world while dabbling in anything from exploration, piracy or smuggling. Following the same premise, Sea Dogs 2, will up the ante with more missions and an even more detailed game map.

"Bethesda came out of E3 with critical acclaim, for them to secure the comment along the lines of: 'best RPG PC game of the show' indicates how powerful their properties are and it is a credit to EON that we can attract content of this power" said John Burns, President of EON Digital Entertainment "Morrowind will be one of the best selling games for the Christmas season and further enhances EONs product portfolio for the years busiest trading period and into 2002."

"We're very excited about the relationship with EON," said Vlatko Andonov, President of Bethesda Softworks. "The amount of interest we've had in Europe for Morrowind, Sea Dogs, and Sea Dogs 2 has been tremendous. We look forward to working with EON and bringing these terrific titles to Europe."