The people at Blue Byte Software have much to be happy about today, as the company announced that Settlers III has passed the 500,000-copies-sold-worldwide mark. The god sim with a touch of real-time strategy has already been translated to 13 languages and the series has sold over one million copies. Here in the States, the title is selling at more than 3,700 retail stores for about US$39.99. If you can't find the title at a retailer, you can purchase the game through Blue Byte directly or through the company's web site.

　　"I knew it would do well but was totally surprised by the quantity sold so far. Aside from the quality entertainment The Settlers III provides, I think we can attribute partial success of sales to our copy protection." said Thomas Hertzler, Blue Byte's chairman and chief executive officer.

　　In part, Blue Byte believes that its Sysiphus copy protection has added to its success since software pirates have found it amazingly difficult to illegally copy and distribute the game. This type of protection combined with a lower price of $39.99 (down from the old $59.99 standard) may also be the other reason for the title's popularity. Yet Blue Byte is aware that the new copy protection is incompatible with some gamers' machines and is working to alleviate the problem.

　　So what's next? The company is adding more maps and other features. So far, Settlers III owners have already had the option to download two new maps for the game.