Legendary Studio's Newest Title Wins over 30 Industry Awards,
Ships Over 3 Million Units Becoming BioWare's Sixth Consecutive
Blockbuster Franchise
EDMONTON, Canada, Feb 08, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Leading video game developer BioWare(TM), a division of Electronic Arts
Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), announced today that Dragon Age(TM):
Origins has sold-in over 3.2 million* units worldwide. The "RPG of
the Year" as named by Game Informer, G4, SpikeTV, AOL.com, and PC
Gamer, Dragon Age: Origins has been hailed by Seth Schiesel
of The New York Times as, "...perhaps the best electronic game made
yet." Dragon Age: Origins has won over 30 "Best of 2009" awards
and has an average review score of 91**. This staggering critical and
commercial success makes Dragon Age: Origins the sixth
consecutive blockbuster from BioWare, alongside Baldur's Gate(TM),
Neverwinter Nights(TM), Star Wars(R): Knights of the Old Republic(TM), Jade
Empire(TM) and Mass Effect(TM).
Since the release of Dragon Age: Origins in fall 2009, the studio
has continued to enchant gamers with additional content packs including Warden's
Keep and Return to Ostagar. The upcoming expansion pack, Dragon
Age: Origins - Awakening is set to launch on March 16, 2010.
"This is a tremendous start for the Dragon Age franchise and we
are extremely pleased with the great reception the game has already
received from critics and fans worldwide," said Dr. Ray Muzyka,
co-founder, BioWare and Group General Manager of the RPG/MMO Group of
EA. "Our team is dedicated to crafting high quality, engaging new
adventures and stories in the world of Ferelden for our fans!"
Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening, BioWare's next
installment in the Dragon Age lore, occurs following the
events of Dragon Age: Origins. Players assume the role of a Grey
Warden Commander entrusted with rebuilding the order of Grey Wardens and
tasked to uncover the mystery of how the darkspawn survive after the
slaying of the Archdemon. How players choose to rebuild their order,
resolve the conflict with the mysterious "Architect," and determine the
fate of the darkspawn are just some of the many intriguing moral choices
that will shape each player's heroic journey. Players will be able to
import their character from Dragon Age: Origins or start out as a
new Grey Warden from the neighboring land of Orlais.
Dragon Age: Origins received "Best of 2009" awards from a wide
range of respected media outlets around the world, including
USAToday.com, CNN.com, MSNBC.com, The Associated Press, Game Informer,
GameSpot, IGN, and many more. The game has also inspired a tremendous
response from gamers as BioWare's online community skyrocketed to more
than 5 million registered users, helping to make DragonAge.com the most
visited site in EA's network in 2009, including EA.com.
Dragon Age: Origins is available now for the Xbox 360,
PlayStation(R) 3 and the PC and is rated 'M' for Mature by the ESRB, '18+'
by PEGI, and 18 by the BBFC.
*According to internal EA data
**On PC according to Metacritic.com
About BioWare
BioWare develops high quality console, PC and online role-playing games,
focused on rich stories, unforgettable characters and vast worlds to
discover. Since 1995, BioWare has created some of the world's most
critically acclaimed titles, including Baldur's Gate(TM), Neverwinter
Nights(TM), Star Wars(R): Knights of the Old Republic(TM), Jade
Empire(TM) and Mass Effect(TM). BioWare operates in Edmonton
(Alberta, Canada), Montreal (Quebec) and Austin (Texas). BioWare's
announced projects include the dark heroic fantasy game Dragon Age:
Origins, as well as Mass Effect 2(TM), the epic sequel to Mass
Effect, and the story-driven massively multiplayer online game, Star
Wars(R): The Old Republic(TM). In 2008, BioWare was acquired by
Electronic Arts, a leading global interactive entertainment publisher.
For more information on BioWare, visit www.bioware.com;
to join the millions of fans already registered on our community, go to
social.bioware.com.
About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is
a leading global interactive entertainment software company. Founded in
1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive
software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, wireless
devices and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under
four brand names: EA(TM), EA SPORTS(TM), EA Mobile(TM)
and POGO(TM). In fiscal 2009, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $4.2
billion and had 31 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.
BioWare, Mass Effect, Dragon Age and Jade Empire are trademarks or
registered trademarks owned by EA International (Studio and Publishing)
Ltd. in the U.S. and/or other countries. EA, EA SPORTS, EA Mobile and
POGO are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in
the U.S. and/or other countries. Xbox and Xbox 360 are trademarks of the
Microsoft group of companies. All other trademarks are the property of
their respective owners.
SOURCE: Electronic Arts Inc.
Electronic Arts Inc.
Cindy Lum, 650-628-3835
Sr. Publicist
clum@ea.com
or
Andrew Wong, 650-628-2781
Sr. PR Manager, EA
anwong@ea.com
or
fortyseven communications
Brian Rubin, 212-391-4707
brian@fortyseven.com
Copyright Business Wire 2010