EA SPORTS NHL 11 to Include All Teams and Players from the WHL, OHL
and QMJHL
BRANDON, Manitoba, May 21, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The Canadian Hockey League (CHL) in association with Electronic Arts
Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) today announced a four year agreement that will see
the league included in EA SPORTS(TM) NHL(R) products. The three regional
leagues that make up the CHL, including the Western Hockey League (WHL),
the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey
League (QMJHL), will all have their teams and players represented in EA
SPORTS NHL 11 when it becomes available in retail stores this
September.
Representing 51 Canadian and nine American teams with players aged 16-20
the CHL is the top development league in the world and the number one
provider of talent to the NHL. 47% of all players selected in the 2009
NHL Entry Draft came from CHL teams. The 2010 NHL Entry Draft could mark
the fourth straight year where a CHL player is selected first overall,
with Tyler Seguin of the Plymouth Whalers and Taylor Hall of the Windsor
Spitfires representing the top two ranked players by NHL Central
Scouting.
"The CHL is very excited to partner with an industry leader like EA
SPORTS to create a brand new way for CHL fans to associate with their
favorite CHL teams and players," said David Branch, President, CHL.
"This opportunity also provides EA SPORTS fans around the world the
ability to learn more about the next wave of NHL stars as they compete
in the best development league in the world."
"It's exciting to have the CHL integrated into our game for the first
time," said Jordan Edelstein, VP of Marketing, EA SPORTS. "Their
inclusion will make NHL 11 the most definitive and complete
hockey experience available."
Four of the last five players to be featured on the cover of EA SPORTS
NHL Series games are CHL graduates including Patrick Kane, Dion Phaneuf,
Eric Staal and Vincent Lecavalier.
The licensing agreement between EA SPORTS and the CHL allows the
following to be included in NHL 11:
-
Ability to play with all 60 teams that make up the CHL
-
Names and Likenesses of players that are on the rosters of a CHL team
-
Mastercard Memorial Cup
-
CHL new RBK Edge Jersey design in NHL 11
-
WHL, OHL and QMJHL logos and league structures
The CHL integration in NHL 11 will tie to several modes in the
game, including Be A Pro, Be A GM, Tournament Mode, Season Mode and
Playoff Mode.
The EA SPORTS NHL franchise has won 22 Sports Game of the Year awards
over the past three years. This year the NHL 11 franchise begins
a new era with gameplay innovations that are set to deliver the most
realistic, accurate and exciting representation of NHL hockey to date.
NHL 11 will be available for the PlayStation(R)3 computer
entertainment system and Xbox 360(R) video game and entertainment system
with an MSRP of $59.99. It is developed by EA Canada in Burnaby, B.C.
The game has not yet been rated by the ESRB or PEGI.
EA SPORTS is one of the leading sports entertainment brands in the
world, with top-selling videogame franchises, award-winning interactive
technology, global videogame competitions and breakthrough digital
experiences. EA SPORTS delivers personal access to the emotion of sports
through industry-leading sports simulation videogames, including Madden
NFL football, FIFA Soccer, NHL(R) hockey, NBA LIVE
basketball, NCAA(R) Football and NCAA Basketball, Fight
Night boxing and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR(R) golf, while
EA SPORTS Active(TM) Personal Trainer for the Wii is the most
critically acclaimed product available for interactive fitness.
For more information about EA SPORTS, including news, video, blogs,
forums, fantasy leagues and game communities, please visit www.easports.com
to connect, share and compete.
Fans will have the opportunity to watch Taylor Hall and the Windsor
Spitfires compete in the championship final of the 2010 MasterCard
Memorial Cup on Sunday May 23, 2010, live at 7:00 pm Eastern on Rogers
Sportsnet, RDS, the NHL Network U.S, and on livestream at www.sportsnet.ca.
The Spitfires will face the winner between the WHL Champion Calgary
Hitmen and the host Brandon Wheat Kings. The QMJHL Champion Moncton
Wildcats also competed in the 92nd edition of the prestigious
national championship event.
For more information about the 2010 MasterCard Memorial Cup please visit www.mastercardmemorialcup.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 SPORTSTM, EATM, EA MobileTM
and POGOTM. In fiscal 2010, EA posted GAAP net revenue of
$3.7 billion and had 27 titles that sold more than one million units.
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 Mobile, POGO and EA SPORTS Active 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 and Xbox 360 are trademarks of the Microsoft
group of companies and used under license from Microsoft. John Madden,
NFL, NBA, FIFA, NHL, NCAA, Tiger Woods and PGA TOUR are trademarks of
their respective owners and used with permission. Wii is a trademark of
Nintendo. All other trademarks are the property of their respective
owners.
About Canadian Hockey League
The Canadian Hockey League is the world's largest development hockey
league with 60 teams in nine Canadian provinces and five American
states. The CHL is made up of the Ontario Hockey League, Quebec Major
Junior Hockey League and Western Hockey League. Last season, more than
nine million fans attended CHL games in the regular season, playoffs and
at the MasterCard Memorial Cup. The CHL supplies more players to the
National Hockey League than any other league. Last season 527 graduates
attended Canadian Universities on scholarships from CHL teams. For more
information please visit www.chl.ca.
SOURCE: Electronic Arts Inc.
EA SPORTS
Duke Indrasigamany, 604-456-3150
Publicist
dukei@ea.com
or
CHL
Paul Krotz, 647-505-8010
Manager, Media and Information Services -
pkrotz@chl.ca
Copyright Business Wire 2010