East India Company showcases dynamic warfare on the open sea, the challenge of establishing profitable trade routes throughout the World, and tense political situations. East India Company is based on the exploits and adventures of the infamous 18th century East India Companies. Developed by Finland based Nitro Games Ltd., players will enjoy building the World's largest trading empire and engaging in vigorous battles within a breathtaking cinematic game environment, in both single player and multiplayer modes. East India Company promises to take strategy war-games to new levels with its technically advanced proprietary game engine. Players will fight, manage and rule nations from Europe to the Far East.

In East India Company, players will assume the role of Governor Director of one of the East India Companies or other rival companies. There are eight nationalities to choose from: British, Dutch, French, Danish, Portuguese, Swedish, Italian or Spanish – with the goal of bringing new colonies and wealth such as: tea, spices, gold, diamonds and other precious cargo back to Europe, but they must dominate the other rival empires along the way. Wars will be waged and blood will be spilled. Players will also conquer the open sea and explore 40 different cities, towns and villages.

Starting modestly, you will build your fleet, establish connections to far away countries, and keep the rivaling nations at bay. Choose from an array of ship classes and types of transport and military vessels: small sloops, schooners, brigantines, frigates and ship-of-the-line. Create different fleets and assign them to specific trading routes. Controlling well situated ports and upgrading them is one key to success.

Conflicts and wars are inevitable. When hostile fleets engage each other, the spectacular naval battles are fought at a real-time tactical level. Devastating broadsides are fired with a deafening roar and cannon balls tear through enemy ships and their crew. At a tactical level, you have direct command over your ship and give independent orders to each of your other fleets. Fight against the other European powers to create a trading empire that will rule above all others!

The “Pirate Bay” campaign starts in 1650 and gives players control over a frigate and level 2 pirate captain (commander) with the skills “Feared” and “Rout.” At the start of the game, the player fleet is located in the pirate port in northern Madagascar.

“The Pirate Bay Campaign will allow gamers to play for a faction used to loot what others have worked hard for, rather than creating anything of value themselves,” explains Fredrik Wester, CEO of Paradox Interactive. “It will be an interesting challenge for gamers to put themselves in the shoes of these mischievous wrong-doers rather than the heralded heroes.”

"East India Company did not originally have pirates as a playable faction as we wanted to concentrate on the actual companies. However, we received an incredible amount of feedback from people who told us how much they would love to play as pirates. It became clear that the best way to implement pirates as a playable faction was to make a separate campaign for them. The best part about the campaign is that you can actually compete against other players and find out who's the best pirate by uploading your points to EIC homepage afterwards,” said Kim Soares, lead designer of Nitro Games.

The “Pirate Bay” bonus campaign will be included in all pre-orders via GamersGate, Steam, Impulse and Direct2Drive.

Game Features

• Spectacular cinematic and epic naval battles
• Two Command Modes: Give orders to all your ships in RTS mode or take the helm of a single ship in Direct Command-mode.
• Unique combination of war and trading
• State of the art diplomacy AI
• Eight playable nations: England, France, Holland, Portugal, Denmark, Sweden, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire
• Over 10 realistic ship types; from small sloops and cutters to the East Indiaman and warships
• Realistic yet fast-paced naval combat
• Hire fleet commanders who will gain new skills and increase the abilities of your fleets
• Take over ports and protect your shipping routes to create the largest trading empire
• Multiplayer (internet or LAN)
  • Supports up to 8 simultaneous players
  • Player statistics tracked on the EIC game server
  • Several game modes for with single and team approach
  • Raise your ranking by thwarting your opponents

East India Company is developed by Nitro Games, and is scheduled for release July 31, 2009 ($39.99/ €39.99/ £34.99)