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ASTRUM NIVAL Artists Receive Dominance War Art Contest Honors

DUBLIN, IRELAND & SUNNYVALE, CA - July 22, 2009 Astrum Nival and gPotato are proud to announce that four talented artists working on the eagerly anticipated  free-to-play MMORPG Allods Online have received awards in the prestigious 2009 Dominance War art competition. Allods Online will be published this Autumn as a free-to-play MMORPG in Europe by Gala Networks Europe at www.gPotato.eu and by Gala-Net in the Americas at www.gPotato.com.

This year, the Astrum Nival’s artists were highly visible, winning multiple awards in both the 2D and 3D categories, as well as picking up prizes in the miniatures contest.

"It's truly a great honor to win first prize considering all the talented, experienced artists who entered. I'm also very glad to see my colleagues Anton Lavrushkin, Bordan Gabelko and Elena Bespalova among the other winners. I’m very proud to work with such fine, distinguished artists, and I look forward to even more awards for Russian game artists in the next Dominance War contest, ” said Vadim Bakhlychev, who took first place in 3D Art.

Vadim Bakhlychev, Senior Artist, took 1^st place in the 3D Art category for his work Recon Elite.  He also captured 3^rd place in the Miniatures category for his work General Acheron. The winning entry can be viewed at http://www.gameartisans.org/contests/dw/4/view_entries/finals_1_2711.html and the 3rd place miniature entry can be viewed at http://www.gameartisans.org/contests/minis/finals_cgtalk_3d_2029.html 

Bogdan Gabelko, Artist, took 6^th place in the 3D Art category for his work Valkyrie. The entry can be viewed at http://www.gameartisans.org/contests/dw/4/view_entries/finals_1_4448.html

Anton Lavrushkin, Senior Artist, took 10^th place in the 2D Art category for his work Bad Robot. The entry can be viewed at http://www.gameartisans.org/contests/dw/4/view_entries/finals_2_21452.html

Elena Bespalova, Artist, took 2^nd place in the Miniatures category for her work General Atrian Havoc. She previously captured 2^nd place in the 2D Art category of Dominance War 2008 for her work Dionesis. The entry can be viewed at http://www.gameartisans.org/contests/minis/finals_cgtalk_2d_1865.html

"We are very proud of our colleagues who won prizes in the Dominance War contest. With such creative individuals working on Allods Online, we can say with even greater confidence that our game will be a success," said Dmitry Devishev, CEO Astrum Nival. “And we look forward to more awards for our talented art team next year.”

The Dominance War contest is the largest worldwide art contest for the game development industry. Thousands of professionals contend for 10 prizes in each of the 3D and 2D categories. More information on the competition can be found at http://www.dominancewar.com/2009/en_about.php  

It’s easy to follow Allods Online. You can get read up on the games history and sign up for RSS feeds by visiting your relevant website. For information on the European versions of the game visit http://allods.gpotato.eu and for information on the American version of the game visit http://allods.gpotato.com

About Allods Online
Allods Online is free full blown MMORPG set in a fantasy space opera universe, with player controlled space battleships. Join one of the 2 factions at war in the deep storyline by choosing from one of the 28 classes available. Customise your character and pet via the rich creation system and level up by completing over 1500 quests (and travel in the Astral space).

About Dominance War 
Dominance War is a truly unique game art challenge. It is the only event of its kind to bring together famous forums to compete for world champion standings in an Olympic-like setting. In Dominance War, artists are the athletes and online forums are their countries. It is a place that fosters the sharing of ideas and techniques and helps artists acquire new skills and new methods to achieve spectacular things. Each year, the thoughts of artists across the globe are depicted with truly imaginative art.  From February to June 2009, an unprecedented 11 art forums and artists from 50 nations took part in the largest war in the series - Dominance War IV. For more information visit: www.dominancewar.com. 

About Astrum Nival
Founded in 2006, Astrum Nival, formerly known as Nival Online, is the leading developer and operator of free to play client-based online games in the Russian Federation and the CIS. Also the exclusive Russian operator of Perfect World, Granado Espada, and Pirate King Online (branded as Piratia™ in Russia), the company develops rich online worlds full of epic adventures, challenges and fun for international audiences. Its first announced title is Allods Online, the epic MMORPG continuation of the globally acclaimed Allods series (known internationally as Rage of Mages). Astrum Nival is headquartered in Moscow, with development studios in Moscow and Voronezh, Russian Federation. Additional information is available at www.astrumnival.com

About Gala Networks Europe Ltd. & gPotato.eu
Gala Networks Europe Ltd. is a leading European free-to-play online games publisher. Gala Networks Europe operates the gPotato brand by hosting, publishing and distributing free online games via the www.gPotato.eu  portal. Established in Dublin, Ireland in 2006, it operates a portfolio of MMORPG’s including Flyff, Rappelz, Street Gears, Dragonica and Allods Online. The gPotato.eu portal is now a major destination for online gamers with over 1.5 million users. Allods Online, the fifth game of the portal, will be available in Autumn 2009.

About Gala-Net & gPotato.com
Gala-Net is a leading publisher in the thriving free-to-play online games in the western market. Founded in 2004 with its headquarters in Sunnyvale, California, Gala-Net's diverse service portfolio includes Flyff, Rappelz, Tales Runner, and Luna Online. Allods Online and Aika, the latest additions to the portal will be launching in Fall of 2009. Through the gPotato Games Portal (www.gPotato.com), with over  5 million users, gamers can play all Gala-Net games free for life, or buy gPotato currency and virtual items for any of its games.

PR Contacts
Gala Networks Europe / gPotato.eu
English - Jamie McCormick | French - Julien Wera | German - Silvana Luedtke
Email: firstname.surname@gala-net.eu

Gala-Net / gPotato.com
Uyen Uyen Ton Nu - utonnu@gala-net.com