NAMCO BANDAI GAMES AMERICA INC. SIGNS
CO-PUBLISHING RELATIONSHIP WITH EA
Companies Will Co-Publish Hellgate: London
In Europe and North America
Santa Clara and Redwood City, Calif. November 7, 2006—Global video games publisher and developer NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. has entered into a strategic relationship with Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), in which the two companies will co-publish the highly-anticipated PC game, Hellgate: London in Europe and North America. As part of the agreement, EA will handle marketing, sales and distribution of the game, while NAMCO BANDAI will continue to work with Flagship Studios on the development of the game and numerous ancillary partnerships including novels, toys, manga, comics and more. The new agreement does not affect Flagship Studio's granting of rights to NAMCO BANDAI to publish future Hellgate: London products.
“Hellgate: London is more than just a highly-anticipated PC game. It is the cornerstone of a franchise and that requires a different approach than the average product," said Makoto Iwai, Senior Vice President of the Development Group at NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. “With an industry-leading marketing and sales network, our co-publisher EA brings expert knowledge and resources to our partnership that will ensure this AAA title will reach the largest market possible.”
“We are thrilled that NAMCO BANDAI chose EA as its partner on this highly-anticipated game,” said David DeMartini, Vice President & General Manager, EA Partners. “We are very excited to be involved with Flagship Studios’ first title. The talent at Flagship Studios and NAMCO BANDAI, combined with EA’s marketing expertise and publishing resources sets the stage for a blockbuster worldwide launch.”
“This partnership assures the best possible outcome for Hellgate: London from both a development and customer-reach standpoint.” said Bill Roper, CEO of Flagship Studios. “By working with both companies in their undisputable areas of strength and expertise, we can bring the game to as many people as possible while maintaining our development focus and schedule at Flagship Studios.”
Hellgate: London is the first original title from premier developer, Flagship Studios. Since the game was announced in 2004, it has received an overwhelming amount of attention including its appearance on more than 30 magazines covers worldwide in addition to multiple industry nominations and awards. Hellgate: London is an action-driven role-playing game that offers infinite playability with dynamically generated levels, items, enemies and events. The player creates a heroic character, completes quests and battles through innumerable hordes of demons to advance through experience levels and branching skill paths. A robust, flexible skill and spell system, highly customizable appearances and a massive variety of randomly generated equipment allow players to create their own unique heroes. For more information about the game, log onto www.hellgatelondon.com.
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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 and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTS(TM), EA(TM), EA SPORTS BIG(TM) and POGO(TM). 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.
About NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc.
NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. is an interactive entertainment software publisher and developer based in Santa Clara, CA. The company is a subsidiary of the newly formed NAMCO BANDAI Holdings (USA) Inc. based in Cypress, CA.
On September 29, 2005, Bandai Co., Ltd. and NAMCO LIMITED implemented a management integration to form NAMCO BANDAI Holdings Inc. This step was taken to compete more effectively on the global stage in the fast-changing entertainment industry and to deliver further growth.
The resulting BANDAI NAMCO Group is a global entertainment group involved in business fields ranging from toys, amusement facilities, video game software and visual software, to apparel, sundries and network content.
As previous separate entities (Namco Hometek Inc. and Bandai Games Inc.) the companies were each known for creating some of the industry’s top video game franchises including: Tamagotchi®, Tekken®, SOULCALIBUR®, Dead to Rights®, Pac-Man® World™, Digimon®, Ridge Racer®, Time Crisis® and ACECOMBAT®. For more information about NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. and its products log onto www.namcobandaigames.com.
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