Second Town and Robust Online Capabilities To Deliver Comprehensive
Community Experience
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Apr 30, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced the robust online and
community offerings to The Sims(TM) 3 PC and Mac game, the
highly-anticipated flagship game from the best-selling PC franchise The
Sims. In addition to the town included in the game, a second town,
Riverview will be available for download from The Sims 3 product
website at launch. TheSims3.com also will allow players to create and
share their own movies, manage their online content and purchase
additional in-game content. The game is set to launch worldwide on the
PC, Mac, iPhone(TM), iPod(R) touch and mobile devices starting June 2, 2009.
"With such a vibrant and active community as The Sims has, we wanted to
build even further on the already immense offline experience, by
offering players additional functionality, content and tools available
online through the game," said Ben Bell, Executive Producer of The
Sims 3. "One example of the many online tools we've added to the
game is the Create a Movie tool. Within the game, players can easily set
up the camera angle they want, capture in-game footage, play director
and producer and then post their movies online to show off to the world."
Key Online Elements Include:
- The Sims 3 Store: Included with purchase of the
game is $10 worth of SimPoints, which players receive when they first
register their game online at TheSims3.com. They can use their
SimPoints towards downloading exclusive in-game items from The Sims
3 Store to customize their game. For additional items, players can
purchase bundles of 500, 1000 and 2000 SimPoints in $USD, EUR, GBP and
other major international currencies using a variety of payment
methods including international and national credit cards, PayPal, and
EA cash cards (in North America only). Whether it's the must-have new
outfit or the latest style of plaid furniture, players have the
opportunity to further customize and populate their Sims world with
additional items.
- Game Launcher: The Game Launcher is the key entry point for
players into TheSims3.com community. This hub page connects players to
both the Store andthe Exchange, and provides them with news
and information about game updates. Players can keep track of their
downloads, uploads, installs, game updates and their media portfolio
that includes the videos and photos they can capture while playing the
game. The Game Launcher also alerts players to new content in the
store, localized game and store promotions along with relevant updates
to the Store and cool new content from the community.
- TheSims3.com Site: With the launch of the game on June 2, the
marketing website at TheSims3.com will be replaced with the full
community and product site for the game. The site will not only
connect players, encourage new ways to be creative in the game, and
offer personally relevant information for each user, it also will
serve as the hub site where players can share their contentwith
other members, and embed them on social networking sites and blogs.
- Key Site Features:
- The Exchange: Building off of The Sims 2 Exchange's
success of more than 100M downloads, The Sims 3 Exchange
highlights featured items, most popular downloads, powerful search
and browse capabilities, along with giving players the ability to
see what other players are recommending.
- Create a Movie and Create a Story: New easily accessible
tools inspire creativity and allow players to create movies and
stories and then show them off or share them with friends. Players
can show off their Movies with the Create a Movie Tool by
embedding them on external sites or with an email link back to
their Movie on TheSims3.com.
- My Page and My Studio: The Sims 3 product site will
allow players to maintain their profile pages on their My Page
section as well as offering them the new My Studio section to
manage all their creations - Movies, Stories, Exchange objects. My
Page is also a blog space where players can post news, customize
it with a personal avatar, track favorites and more. Users can
make friends with other The Sims 3 players and share their
content across a number of social network sites.
For more information about The Sims 3, go to www.TheSims3.com.
The Sims 3 was developed by The Sims Studio. To download artwork,
visit www.info.ea.com.
The Sims 3 will be available for purchase at retail and online
through digital distribution starting June 2 at http://eastore.ea.com/store/ea/ContentTheme/pbPage.the_sims3/ThemeID.718200.
* INTERNET CONNECTION required. See product pack or digital distribution
rules for details.
About The Sims 3
Get inspired by the endless creative possibilities and unexpected
moments of surprise and mischief in The Sims 3! Customize your
Sims' appearances and choose up to five traits to create individual
personalities. From the "romantic" trait or "kleptomaniac" trait to
"evil" trait, create millions of unique Sims from the vast amount of
personalities. New goal-oriented game play enables you to choose which
short or long-term objectives you want your Sims to pursue and even
determine your Sims' destinies in life. Create and edit your own movies
by capturing your gameplay moments or select from a library of clips.
Then join The Sims 3 online community where you can show off all
of your creations, receive additional content, hear the latest news, and
more! Download exclusive content and hear the latest news of The Sims 3
at www.TheSims3.com.
About The Sims
The Sims franchise celebrates an impressive over 100 million
units sold since its launch in February 2000. Now translated into 22
different languages and available in 60 different countries, The Sims
quickly has become a universal gaming and cultural phenomenon. For the
latest information about The Sims and to check out the hottest
creations for The Sims 2 made by our community members, please
visit www.TheSims2.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 video game systems, personal computers, cellular
handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under
four brand names: EA SPORTSTM, EATM, EA SPORTS
FreestyleTM and POGOTM. In fiscal 2008, EA posted
GAAP net revenue of $3.67 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.
EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS Freestyle, POGO and The Sims are trademarks or
registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other
countries. Mac, iPhone, and iPod touch are trademarks of Apple Inc.,
registered in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks are the
property of their respective owners.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=5953010&lang=en
SOURCE: Electronic Arts Inc.
EA Play Label
Angie Newman, 650-628-2877
PR Manager
anewman@ea.com
Trudy Muller, 650-628-2926
Senior Director
tmuller@ea.com
Copyright Business Wire 2009