Paizo Publishing today revealed that more than 10,000 gamers have downloaded the Pathfinder RPG Alpha release 1 since its announcement one week ago. The free PDF is available now at paizo.com/pathfinderRPG.

"The huge number of downloads has exceeded our expectations, as has the outpouring of support from gamers around the world," said Paizo Publisher Erik Mona. "Our open playtest forums have exploded with thoughtful commentary on the Alpha release, and I look forward to a long and productive playtest effort going forward."

Playtester feedback has already resulted in development changes to the initial Pathfinder RPG Alpha release 1. The changes have been integrated into to a new release 1.1 of the Alpha PDF, and are summarized in the first of a series of Development Notes downloads from Paizo Lead Designer Jason Bulmahn.

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game is a tabletop fantasy roleplaying game that will serve as the anchor for Paizo's popular line of Pathfinder adventures, sourcebooks, and campaigns. Last week marked the beginning of a year-long open playtest of the new rules, which are based on the popular 3.5 rules available under the Open Game License. The Pathfinder RPG is designed with backward compatibility as one of its primary goals, so players will continue to enjoy their lifelong fantasy gaming hobby without invalidating their entire game library.

Paizo intends to release multiple Pathfinder RPG Alpha downloads to flesh out the system with additional classes, spells, magic items, and additional refinements of the core 3.5 system between now and early summer. Playtester feedback on the Pathfinder RPG messageboards will guide the direction of the Pathfinder RPG Beta to be released at Gen Con this August. The Beta release will take all of the Alpha playtest feedback to create a 320+ page, soft-cover, full-color book, available in print for $24.99 on paizo.com or at your local game store and as a free downloadable PDF on paizo.com. The Beta will serve as the primary playtest document for the Pathfinder RPG until summer 2009 when the rules will be finalized and released as a hardcover rulebook.

Additional information on the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game can be found at paizo.com/pathfinderRPG.

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Paizo Publishing®, LLC is a leading publisher of fantasy roleplaying games, accessories, board games, and novels. Paizo's Pathfinder™ line of adventures and Pathfinder Chronicles™ campaign setting support materials combines decades of game design experience into one evocative system compatible with the 3.5 rules. Paizo's GameMastery™ line offers easy-to-use tools for game masters of any fantasy roleplaying game to improve their gaming experience. Titanic Games™, Paizo's board game imprint, unleashes fun, challenging games like Kill Doctor Lucky™ and Yetisburg™ that appeal to both families and casual gamers alike. Paizo's Planet Stories™ line of science fiction and fantasy novel reprints promises a master class in the genre aimed at building the greatest fantasy and science fiction library ever assembled. Paizo.com is the leading online hobby retail store, offering tens of thousands of products from a variety of publishers to customers all over the world. In the five years since its founding, Paizo Publishing has received more than a dozen major awards and has grown to become one of the most influential companies in the hobby games industry.