Bird Watching Goes Interactive With WizardWorks' 'Bird Watcher - The Interactive Birding Game' for PC;.

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 22, 1999--

Introduction by Pete Dunne, Renown Birding Expert and Author; Endorsed by Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Swarovski Optik, Pennington Seed and Birder's World Magazine

From the publishers of the best-selling CD-ROM wildlife series, WizardWorks, a subsidiary of GT Interactive Software (Nasdaq: GTIS), is releasing the first of its kind interactive bird watching adventure with Bird Watcher for PC. Birders can now discover and learn more about North American birds right at their computer with this software title that gives consumers the opportunity to discover and test their knowledge of more than 140 birds through interactive expeditions and games.

"Bird watching is an extremely popular outdoor activity and one that tops even the hunting industry in annual expenditures by its enthusiasts," said Paul Rinde, senior vice president of Product Acquisition and Development for WizardWorks. "According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, there are more than 60 million people in the United States who are wildlife watchers, and observing and feeding birds makes up more than 85 percent of those wildlife watchers. Bird Watcher will give both veterans and new birders the opportunity to enjoy the sport in a new medium from the comfort of their home."

Bird Watcher is introduced by noted birding industry expert Pete Dunne, an author of eight birding books, founder of the World Series of Birding and Director of the New Jersey Audubon Society's Cape May Bird Observatory. Bird Watcher is endorsed by Swarovski Optik, Cornell Labs of Ornithology, Pennington Seed, Birder's World Magazine and Wildlife Forever.

"Endorsements by such highly regarded companies in the birding industry truly attest to the birder worthiness of the Bird Watcher title," said Shel Mann, partner of Pondview Productions, producers of Bird Watcher. "This CD-ROM has exciting possibilities in that it will not only introduce bird watching to a whole new generation of bird lovers, but also give seasoned enthusiasts a new way to enjoy the sport they already love."

Birders of all skill levels and areas of interest will find Bird Watcher informative and entertaining with two exciting birding games, including:

-- Interactive birding expedition: View your favorite species in

photo-realistic birding environments, while full-motion video 

sequences help you learn to recognize more than 140 different

birds. Gamers can also take turns challenging each other,

searching for prize birds in a competition of birding knowledge

and high scores; -- Raptor hunting games: Take flight as one of America's largest

raptors, sweeping and diving in search of rabbits and fish;

Bird Watcher is also packed with many informative birding tips:

-- Bird Watcher reference guide: Learn to recognize more than 140

birds and their calls in this comprehensive reference guide,

complete with pictures, descriptions and sounds; -- Authentic bird calls and songs: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the

world's premier authority on the study of birds, provides

authentic bird sounds to enhance your interactive birding

experience; -- Optics for Birding: Pete Dunne and Swarovski Optik explain how

optics enhance the birding experience;

Produced by Pondview Productions and developed by Window Painters, Bird Watcher has a suggested retail price of $19.99 and will be available in March at retail outlets nationwide and through secure online transactions at www.gtstore.com.

Headquartered in New York, with 1997 calendar year revenues of $531 million, GT Interactive Software Corp. (Nasdaq: GTIS) is a leading global interactive entertainment software company that develops, markets and distributes consumer software. The company has seven internal development studios: Humongous Entertainment, Cavedog Entertainment, SingleTrac, Oddworld, Bootprint Entertainment, Legend Entertainment and Reflections. The company also has five software labels: GT Interactive, WizardWorks (www.wizardworks.com), CompuWorks, MacSoft and Slash. GT Interactive's e-commerce system provides secure online transactions through each of the studios' Web sites and www.gtstore.com. GT Interactive also owns the subsidiary OneZero Media that operates a specialized entertainment portal, getwild.com, which acts as the Entertainment Zone on AltaVista; and produces the nationally syndicated television program, "Wild Wild Web." GT Interactive can be found on the Internet at www.gtinteractive.com.