Basketball Blockbuster in Co-Development with Neowiz Games to Further Expand EA's Online Offering in the Region
SEOUL, South Korea & REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July
10, 2007--Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS), the world's leading
developer and publisher of interactive entertainment, today announced
EA SPORTS™ NBA STREET Online as the latest title in its growing
portfolio of online games for Asia. The blockbuster basketball game
from EA Canada will be co-developed with Seoul-based Neowiz Games. NBA
Street Online expands EA's announced line up of online games in Asia
including EA SPORTS™ FIFA Online, Warhammer® Online : Age of
Reckoning™, and an online offering from the Battlefield franchise.
EA and Neowiz partnered in 2006 to launch EA SPORTS FIFA Online,
now one of Korea's most popular games with over 4.9 million registered
subscribers. The co-development of NBA STREET Online is part of the
ongoing strategic partnership between the two companies. Availability
of NBA STREET Online in Korea, China, Taiwan and Japan will be
announced in the coming weeks.
Mark Dickenson, Executive Producer at EA Canada, said, "NBA Street
Online builds on the fun and popularity of NBA Street Homecourt,
allowing players to build a personal style and do cool tricks while
adding new customizable ways to create players and build teams. We're
really excited by the opportunity to build a community of basketball
and gaming fans and allow them to compete in tournaments against their
friends, or against the best of the real NBA."
"This is our third co-development project with EA," said Kwan Ho
Choi, CEO of Neowiz Games. "Following the success of FIFA Online, and
our work to bring Battlefield to Asia Online, we're looking forward to
our continued partnership for NBA Street Online. We will definitely
put our best foot forward to satisfy Asian gamers with our online
games."
Hubert Larenaudie, President, EA Asia Online, said, "Basketball
has huge appeal around the world, EA knows sports games, and Neowiz
Games has proven talent in developing great offerings for Asian
consumers. That's a great combination to help make NBA Street Online a
success in the rapidly growing Asian online gaming market."
About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City,
California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software
company. Founded in 1982, the company develops, publishes, and
distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems,
personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic
Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTS™,
EA™, EA SPORTS BIG™ and POGO™. In fiscal 2007, EA posted
revenue of $3.09 billion and had 24 titles that sold more than one
million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More
information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be
found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.
About Neowiz Games
Neowiz Games Co. Ltd, headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, is the
nation's leading online game company. Neowiz Games is expected to post
revenues of $160 million for fiscal 2007. The company develops and
publishes online games. Neowiz had over 50 online game titles in
service including the most popular online game in Korea called EA
SPORTS FIFA Online, Ray City, etc. Neowiz markets its products under
its online game portal www.pmang.com. More information about the
company information and press releases can be found on the internet at
www.neowiz.com.
EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS BIG and POGO are trademarks or registered
trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.
Warhammer and Age of Reckoning are trademarks or registered trademarks
of Games Workshop Ltd. NBA is a registered trademark of NBA
Properties, Inc. EA SPORTS FIFA Online is manufactured under license
by Electronic Arts. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective owners.
CONTACT: EA Corporate
Jeff Brown, +1-650-628-7922
jbrown@ea.com
or
EA International
Tiffany Steckler, +4122 316 1322
tsteckler@europe.ea.com
or
Neowiz Games
EunKyung Huh, +82-2-6001-2183
tomato@neowiz.com
SOURCE: Electronic Arts Inc.