After months of hard work, we've finally reached the finish line -- The Cold War Era officially goes on sale Monday, May 13th! 

It's a really good feeling to reach this point. From the first beta until now, it's been a long journey, but a rewarding one. And at the end of it, we have something to share with others that we can be truly proud of. 

To celebrate the big day, we're hosting a PVP party Monday evening -- we're hoping everyone will get online to play at the same time so we can have maximum PVP matchups! 

We'll also be answering messages via the Alina Digital forums while the party is ragin'. 

The game's release is truly a milestone, but there's still so much more to do! I'm truly excited to see what the result is once the game hits the hands of the public and so many people get to play it for the first time. 

It is going to be epic!

-Madeline M

This weekend we're offering free temporary copies of The Cold War Era, a P2P RTS, to journalists, bloggers, developers and members of the media so they can try out the final version of our game. 

To get a copy of the game send me a message at mcmastersPR@alinadigital.com, and I'll give you your personal serial key. Then you can download it at this link: 

http://www.thecoldwarera.com/downloadgame.html

Each person needs their own serial key to play, but I'd be happy to send you as many keys as you like. 

TCWE is based on the epic conflict between the Americans and the Soviets spanning 1950 to 2000. Within one hour players can defeat their opponent with military might, stealthy spies and advances in Space Race technology. 

We're gearing up for The Cold War Era's release in May and would appreciate your feedback (and posts!) about the game. 

The game key is playable between Friday morning and Sunday evening. 

If you share The Cold War Era with your followers, on your website, or on your blog I'll then send you the serial key and download link for a permanent version of the game for you to keep. It's our way to thank you for your feedback, and for sharing our game with your followers. 

Also if you have any questions or concerns about our game or Alina Digital, please don't hesitate to send me a message. 

I hope you get to play TCWE and I really look forward to getting your feedback about our game! 

Thanks and Happy Gaming,

Madeline Masters

mcmastersPR@alinadigital.com

Our company's founder and the lead developer on our game, The Cold War Era, wrote this message to share with everyone. It is truly a story of one man wanting to bring his dream to life and share it with the world. I hope you like it. 

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Dear Friends, 

I can’t even explain to you how I feel about the upcoming release of The Cold War Era.  It's been a 20-year-long journey, finding my own way to create my first game and reaching the point at which people like you can play it.

I am no different from you. I’ve been playing different strategy games for years -- it’s just by chance that it’s me who's writing this message and you who’s reading it. But in reality we're very similar. We visit the same forums, play the same great games, eat the same kinds of food and watch the same TV shows. I’m sure we've probably even battled it out online in different strategy games. We both belong to the Strategy Gamer family.

Twenty years ago I played my first Civilization game. It was then that I became a gamer. Books and games are my passions. I never miss a game by my favorite developers, and I never miss a book by my favorite authors. I’ve played almost ALL strategy games on the market -- I've been consumed in the worlds of hundreds of great games, the whole while never knowing I'd be able to share my experiences with anyone else, since I never had gamer friends. Well, things have changed for me. Now I can share the gaming experience with you as the designer of my own game! 

It’s been three years since I decided to start actively working on my first game. You can’t even imagine how many things have happened since then! I could write a book about it, for sure. I was tricked, lied to and betrayed by many designers, programmers, marketing specialists and people who "always know better." Ladies and gentlemen, I can tell you, entering the game development business isn’t as easy as it seems. Well, I’ve passed this school and am ready for my graduation ceremony -- The Cold War Era's official release. 

There are just a few days left before my company, Alina Digital, releases its first game. I don’t know how many copies will be sold or if I'll ever earn enough just to pay off my expenses, but you know what, I feel I have created something that will stay with me for the rest of my life. 

When I was a very young boy I planted three trees. Now they grow and burst with green leaves every summer. Years later, in high school I formed a rock band, and now I have my own album recorded. Later I opened a travel business with my partner and many tourists enjoyed using our service. After that I created my own Internet TV site, which hundreds of thousands of viewers liked and used frequently. Now I can finally say I've accomplished one more life goal... I did it! I’ve created my own PC game! I hope I'll be as proud of it as I am of all the things I've accomplished in my life, and that I'll make the people closest to me proud. 

One Game, One Friend! 

--Max Sprin. 

 Our Donation Campaign is officially taking preorders for The Cold War Era -- what an exciting time! 

We announced our Donation Campaign this Tuesday and so far two journalists have written about it, which we greatly appreciate.  Here are the articles: 

RTS Guru: The Cold War Era Lets You Spy, Incite Riots, and Other Fun Things

The Escapist: Cold War Era RTS Available for Preorder

We're considering working with distributors, so if anyone has any recommendations for a distributor they've worked with before and had a good experience with, that would be really helpful! 

The Donation Campaign is similar to a Kickstarter or IndieGogo campaign, but run completely through our website. Because we've still got some details to iron out we're not going full-blast on the media announcement for the campaign... yet!  

It's pretty cool to be reaching a new stage in the game's progress. We're getting there. I guess it won't be long now before TCWE is released and gamers around the world can enjoy it! 

When you're developing a game, releasing your first gameplay video is a pretty exciting event. It's the first time others can see inside your game and it's accessible at any time, unlike betas that may only be available intermittently. 

So when my boss Max and I decided to make The Cold War Era's first gameplay video this week we were both pretty darn excited. I agreed to help in any way I could, which ended up with me being the face and voice of the video. 

The Cold War Era In-Game Video on YouTube

Like I said, I'm happy to do whatever is needed to help share TCWE. But being on camera? Yikes! Normally I can barely handle having a quick photo taken of me. Years of embarrassingly awkward driver's license and passport photos prove this.

Even working completely by myself in an empty apartment to shoot, I did about 10 takes just to get the few minutes of video we needed... probably 12 if you count the aborted shots when the cat jumped onto my lap and into the frame. 

Luckily, having played the game and having thought about it nearly constantly for the past several weeks made it easy to talk about onscreen. Once Max put the video all together and it was truly complete, it was time to share it around. 

I'm always happy to share TCWE's latest updates and proud to show our accomplishments. But sharing myself on video all over the Internet... that's a little weird. 

Still, there it is, and it's a good video -- I think it does a great job of showing everyone just what it's like to play TCWE. If you watch our gameplay video I hope it gets you jazzed to play TCWE during our second open beta weekend, Friday, April 12th until Sunday, April 14th!

If you give it a view, let me know what you think, and send me a message if you're interested in playing our beta -- I'm more than happy to share that with you.  

-Madeline M

 Closed Beta for The Cold War Era Grand Strategy Game March 29-31

The beta version of The Cold War Era is ready for head-to-head mastermind action and we'd like you to play it! This weekend members of the media and their guests will get their first chance to see and experience TCWE for themselves playing against live opponents. 

Marshal the most countries into your sphere of influence using military tactics, propaganda and spy networks before time runs out. Choose to play as either the U.S. or the U.S.S.R. as you rewrite history and forge a new outcome for the notorious Cold War. 

TCWE is a P2P RTS strategy game based on the epic conflict between the Americans and the Soviets spanning the 1950s through the 1990s. 

Alina Digital is now extending the offer to participate in the closed beta to bloggers and journalists only. If you'd like to participate in the closed beta, please send an email to mcmasterspr@alinadigital.com, and you'll be added to the list of select names given permission to access the beta during these dates. 

Once you provide us with your email address we can send you a link to download the game's beta version. 

Any journalists and bloggers interested in participating in the beta are encouraged to invite their comrades to also participate so they can match up against their friends in a game of cunning, guile and wit. 

We at Alina Digital are very excited to share TCWE with its first batch of beta players outside our little circle and we greatly anticipate getting your feedback after experiencing TCWE's unique gameplay for the first time! 

If you choose to write about TCWE before or after the beta, please send us a link -- we'd love to know what you have to say. 

Once the beta is live, players will enter the game lobby and select the country they wish to play as -- either the U.S. or the U.S.S.R. The player will be matched up with an opponent at random and gameplay begins in 10 seconds. 

To get a feel for TCWE's game mechanics before the game begins, please visit www.thecoldwarera.com/aboutgame.html and download the game Quick Guide -- the link is at the bottom of that page. 

TCWE is one of the only Cold-War based games available, and is presented in a format unlike any other Cold War game to date. 

Participants in the beta will get to try out these features:

- Play within a realistic atmosphere that recreates the true Cold War.

- Play as either the Americans or the Soviets to rewrite Cold War history.

- Install military units to prop up the local Allied government or transform rebels into revolutionaries in Opposing countries.

- Establish spy networks to support government propaganda campaigns or shake loose the Opposition's stronghold.

- Build and launch rockets, satellites and astronauts into space to shock and amaze the world and win their alliance.

- Devise your own strategies and tactics, forcing your opponent to play by your rules.

- Initiate pro-government parades or incite riots to plunge countries into chaos.

About Alina Digital

Alina Digital is a Montreal-based game development studio owned lead developer Max Sprin. 

If you have any questions or comments about the beta preview March 29-31, please don't hesitate to email mcmastersPR@alinadigital.com. To learn more about TCWE please visit the game's website at www.thecoldwarera.com, www.facebook.com/thecoldwarera, or subscribe to Alina Digital's Twitter feed at twitter.com/AlinaDigitalDev.