NCsoft and NetDevil today announced that their upcoming vehicular MMORPG Auto Assault has reach gold master status and will be officially released on the 13 of April. Pre-order customers will get a 4 day early start however, as well as some other bonus stuff.

Wednesday 22 March 2006/... NCsoft® Europe has confirmed that Auto Assault® has reached gold master status, will have its retail release in both Europe and North America on 13th April, and will launch service simultaneously in both territories the same day. Customers who purchased and registered their pre-order for Auto Assault will receive the benefits of a special in-game weapon and loot bonus, plus a four-day head start for game play.

Auto Assault, the sixth major online game published by NCsoft, was developed by Colorado-based developer, NetDevil®, LTD. The first massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) in a post apocalyptic setting, Auto Assault combines fast action with the depth of role-playing games and features fully destructible environments.

Auto Assault will go live simultaneously in North America and Europe on 13th April 13. Pre-order customers may participate in the four-day head start from 9th April.

"Auto Assault offers a brand new experience, combining the depth of traditional online role-playing games with the fast, frenetic pace of action games," said Geoff Heath, CEO of NCsoft Europe. "We are delighted that we can continue to follow the trend we set with Guild Wars by presenting Auto Assault simultaneously in both North America and Europe, ensuring that our players can enjoy the fastest game around from day one."

"We are very excited about the upcoming launch of Auto Assault, but this is just the beginning," said Scott Brown, president of NetDevil and project lead. "One of the reasons we partnered with NCsoft is that they provide the best value to their customers, with free content expansions in addition to other ways to grow their game worlds. Auto Assault customers will be able to enjoy new content for years to come."

In Auto Assault, players can choose to be a Human, Mutant or Biomek character and set out in a post apocalyptic land in personalised combat vehicles, fighting for the few resources left on a shattered Earth. Combat is extremely fast-paced and challenges abound as players blast through buildings, set fire to forests, and level entire settlements. Player avatars may own many different vehicles, specialise in several crafting disciplines to create truly unique items, and participate in player-versus-player battles both in arena combat and in contested outpost areas.

Auto Assault's standard edition box will be available at a suggested retail price of £29.99 / €44.99. The jam-packed Collector's Edition, which includes a headset to utilise the game's voice chat system, will be available for a suggested retail price of £44.99 / €64.99. Both the Standard and Collector's Editions of the game include the first 30 days online game play after which players will be charged a monthly subscription fee of £8.99 / €12.99, with discounts available to long-term subscribers.