Innovative Action Titles Ship in Fall 2007 and Include Portal(TM),
Team Fortress(R) 2 and Half-Life(R) 2: Episode Two in One Box
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 7, 2007--Electronic
Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS), the world's leading interactive entertainment
company, and Valve®, the award-winning studio behind the blockbuster
franchises Half-Life® and Counter-Strike®, today announced the
naming and product configurations The Black Box and The Orange Box,
two of the most anticipated action game offerings shipping worldwide
in Fall 2007.
The Black Box will ship for the PC, and includes Half-Life 2:
Episode Two, Portal and Team Fortress 2. The Orange Box will ship for
the PC, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, and Xbox
360™ videogame and entertainment system, and includes all the
content of The Black Box, plus the original Half-Life 2 and Half-Life
2: Episode One.
Innovative games included in The Black Box and The Orange Box
include:
-- Half-Life 2: Episode Two -- the second installment in Valve's
episodic trilogy advances the award-winning story, leading the
player to new locations outside of City 17.
-- Portal -- a pioneering type of single player action game that
rewrites the rules for how players approach and manipulate
their environment - much like how Half-Life 2's Gravity Gun
reinvented the way gamers interact with objects in the game.
-- Team Fortress 2 -- an all-new version of the legendary title
that spawned team based multiplayer action games. The game's
daring new art style features the most advanced graphics of
any Source-based game released to date.
"In less than 18 months, we've shipped 10 new products to retail
outlets with EA Partners," said Gabe Newell, co-founder of Valve. "The
Black Box and The Orange Box represent a new approach to publishing
multiple products, on multiple platforms and we know through our
experience that no organization in the industry is better equipped to
successfully launch new product types on multiple platforms than EA
Partners."
"Valve is one of the world's premiere independent developers and
EA Partners is thrilled to help them bring the groundbreaking action
games in The Orange Box and The Black Box to market as their
publishing partner," said David DeMartini, vice president and general
manager of EA Partners.
The Black Box and The Orange Box are targeted for release in Fall
2007. For more information, please visit www.steamgames.com.
About Half-Life
Released in November 1998, Half-Life was Valve's debut title. With
over 16 million units sold and over 100 Game of the Year Awards, the
franchise is comprised of multiple SKUs and has appeared on multiple
platforms.
About Valve
Valve is an entertainment software and technology company founded
in 1996 and based in Bellevue, Washington. The company's portfolio of
entertainment properties includes Half-Life®, Counter-Strike™,
Day of Defeat®, Team Fortress® and Portal™. Valve's catalog of
products accounts for over 20 million retail units sold worldwide, and
over 80% of PC online action gameplay. In addition, Valve is a
developer of leading-edge technologies, such as the Source game engine
and Steam, a broadband platform for the delivery and management of
digital content. For more information, please visit
www.valvesoftware.com.
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 videogame 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 2006, EA posted
revenue of $2.95 billion and had 27 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.
Electronic Arts, 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. PLAYSTATION is a registered trademark of
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Xbox 360 is either a registered
trademark or a trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States
and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective owners.