First Game From EA/Playfish Partnership Brings World's Most Popular
Soccer Videogame Franchise to Hundreds of Millions of Fans
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Jun 11, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced that EA SPORTS(TM) has
created its most popular franchise for the hundreds of millions of
soccer fans on social gaming sites just in time for the start of the
2010 FIFA World Cup(TM). Developed by Playfish, EA
SPORTS(TM) FIFA Superstars is a free-to-play^ social game that
has launched on Facebook(R). It will be available on additional social
networks in the future.
"We are leveraging our soccer expertise with the experience of our
partners at Playfish to create a casual soccer game for a broader
audience," said Matt Bilbey, vice president of soccer, EA SPORTS. The EA
SPORTS FIFA franchise has sold over 90 million units lifetime and FIFA
Soccer 10 is the highest rated* sports videogame on the
PlayStation(R)3 and Xbox 360(R) in the world.
"Soccer fans have a voracious appetite for their sport so we are
creating interactive soccer entertainment in new ways and on new
platforms to meet the interest," continued Bilbey. "We are excited to
broaden our reach from the console that touches our core audience of
10-20 million fans to the hundreds of millions of soccer fans and casual
gamers using social networks."
EA SPORTS FIFA Superstars is the first social game developed
through the EA/Playfish partnership and the first sports game developed
by Playfish, who leads social gaming in innovation and creativity with
award-winning category defining games designed for friends to play
together. Playfish hits include Pet Society and Restaurant City.
"On the eve of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, we're introducing into
social gaming an entirely new category and game play style built around
the most popular sports franchise in the world," said Kristian
Segerstrale, vice president and general manager of Playfish. "EA
SPORTS FIFA Superstars captures all the magic and passion of the
beautiful game, enabling players to build and manage a team of the
world's greatest soccer players and compete against their friends. We're
looking forward to working with our players and evolving the game in
many exciting ways through the FIFA World Cup and beyond."
FIFA Superstars will leverage EA SPORTS soccer licenses for 30
leagues, 500 teams and 15,000 players. Fans will be able to create a
fantasy club side by collecting or trading players, challenging friends
head-to-head and competing in leagues, or searching out broader leader
boards to compete against the best. To capitalize on the worldwide
soccer fever driven by the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa(TM), players
can predict the outcomes of games in the 2010 FIFA World Cup(TM) to win
valuable in-game coins. Screenshots of EA SPORTS FIFA Superstars can be
downloaded at http://info.ea.com.
For more information visit http://apps.facebook.com/fifasuperstars/
EA SPORTS(TM) 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 ELITE
basketball, NCAA(R) Football, Fight Night boxing, EA SPORTS
MMA, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR(R) golf, and EA SPORTS Active(TM).
For more information about EA SPORTS, including news, video, blogs,
forums and game apps, please visit www.easports.com
to connect, share and compete.
^ Internet connection and a Facebook account required
*Source www.metacritic.com,
June 5, 2010
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 SPORTS(TM), EA(TM), EA Mobile(TM) and POGO(TM). 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 of
Electronic Arts Inc. © The Official Emblem and Official Mascot of the
2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa(TM) and the FIFA World Cup Trophy are
copyrights and trademarks of FIFA. All rights reserved. Manufactured
under license by Electronic Arts Inc. Player names and likenesses used
under license from FIFA, International Federation of Professional
Footballers "(FIFPro)" and national teams. John Madden, NFL, NHL, NBA,
NCAA, Tiger Woods and PGA TOUR are trademarks of their respective owners
and used with permission. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective owners.
Facebook(R) is a registered trademark of Facebook Inc.
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SOURCE: Electronic Arts Inc.
Electronic Arts Inc.
Steve Frost, 604-456-5067
Sr. Publicist
sfrost@ea.com
or
Jen Riley, 604-456-5081
PR Director
jriley@ea.com
or
David Tinson, 650-628-5189
V-P, Communications
dtinson@ea.com
or
Playfish
Tom Sarris, 415-578-3194
Dir. of Global Communications
tom.sarris@playfish.com
Copyright Business Wire 2010