The terms of the transaction were not disclosed and the deal is expected to close by June 30.

Based in Los Angeles, Last Unicorn Games was founded in 1994 by Christian Moore, Owen Seyler and Greg Orman. The company's first roleplaying game effort came in 1994 with the development of the award-winning Aria game system. Last Unicorn Games acquired the license for Dune, Frank Herbert's legendary science fiction property, in 1996, and in the following year it acquired the coveted Star Trek property, making the company a leader in the adventure game industry.

``Last Unicorn Games produces great games based on epic science fiction worlds, and its employees have some of the most creative minds in the industry,'' said Peter Adkison, CEO of Wizards of the Coast. ``We are very excited to have Last Unicorn Games continue producing its high-quality products as a part of the Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro family.

``Wizards of the Coast has set new standards in the adventure game industry, and all of us here at Last Unicorn Games look forward to working with such a dynamic company,'' said Christian Moore, president of Last Unicorn Games.

Last Unicorn Games will continue to develop and support its highly successful Star Trek roleplaying-game line and will soon release Red Alert, a disk-based ship-to-ship war game set in the Star Trek universe. Also scheduled for immediate release is the Dune roleplaying game, which is already in production. As a part of Wizards of the Coast, Last Unicorn Games will distribute its products through the same broad channels as Wizards of the Coast's current roleplaying products: through St. Martin's Press, core hobby stores and mass-market chains. The company expects to maintain its Los Angeles office and retain all employees upon closure of the acquisition.

Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro, is the worldwide market share leader in the trading card game and tabletop roleplaying game categories. Wizards of the Coast is a leading developer and publisher of game-based entertainment products as well as the owner and operator of one of the nation's largest specialty game retail chains. The company holds an exclusive patent on the play mechanics of trading card games (TCGs) and produces the world's best-selling Pokemon and Magic: The Gathering TCGs. Wizards of the Coast is also one of the world's leading fantasy and science fiction book publishers and is a publisher of adventure games such as the classic Dungeons & Dragons games, family card and board games and electronic media products. The company's retail locations, many of which provide game-play areas, include a growing number of Wizards of the Coast specialty game retail stores as well as 53 The Game Keeper stores. Headquartered near Seattle, Washington, Wizards of the Coast has international offices in Antwerp, Paris, Milan, London and Beijing. For more information on Wizards of the Coast, visit the company's website.

[Posted 6/06/2000