mission editor, Dark Reign is sure to please." Sales Dark Reign was a commercial success at launch, and Activision declared the game its fastest-selling product by that time. In the United States, it debuted on PC Data's computer game sales rankings at #4 for September 1997, the highest position for a strategy game that month. It fell to 14th place the following month, and was absent from PC Data's top 20 by November. Dark Reign had "led charts overseas as well, scoring number one positions in both Germany and Australia during certain periods" by mid-November, according to PC Gamer US. As of that date, shipments to retailers had surpassed 400,000 units globally. The game's sell-through in the United States totaled 78,600 units by the end of 1997, which placed it behind competitors Total Annihilation and Age of Empires over the same period. Dark Reigns global sales reached roughly 500,000 units by June 1999. At the time, Barry Stavro of the Los Angeles Times noted that it had become "a big hit in Germany and Australia". Its worldwide sales ultimately numbered 685,000 units by 2004, for revenues above $12 million. Legacy The Construction Kit shipped with the game allows the creation of anything from multiplayer / skirmish maps to full-fledged campaigns. Tools supplied with it allow for custom-created AI profiles to be created easily and scripted events to be implemented. As a result, there was a large community and several mods, including total conversions such as 'Edge Of Darkness', which added two new races and a host of new units and strategies. Expansion packs Dark Reign: Rise of the Shadowhand was released on March 26, 1998. The expansion includes a new campaign, along with new maps and terrains. It also features two new sides, Xenite and Shadowhand, resulting in a total of four playable factions. Each of the new factions contains its own units and buildings which expand upon what was available via the original factions, with the Shadowhand including and expanding upon Imperium units and buildings from the original game, and with the Xenite doing the same for the Freedom Guard. Battles of the Outer Rim was released in 1998. It was developed by Macmillan Digital Publishing USA. It includes six single player missions, 79 multiplayer maps and a searchable map browser. Multiplayer Community Dark Reign continues to be supported over 20 years following its original release with an open-source