| | | | Hot Actress Josie Maran to Star in Need for Speed Most Wanted
EA Redefines In-Game Movies With Cinematic Scenes That Blend Live-Action Video with Real-Time Gameplay
Electronic Arts announced today that model and actress, Josie Maran, will star in Need for Speed Most Wanted launching in November 2005. EA has created a new process that takes Hi-Definition footage of live actors and converts them into synthetic-looking videogame characters. This revolutionary new process delivers never-before-seen character, motion and facial fidelity with seamless integration into true 3D game environments.
| | EA to Develop the Lord of the Rings Games Based on Tolkien's Books
Two New EA Games Introduce Players to Characters, Environments and Battles Not Depicted in Theatrical Releases
Electronic Arts today announced that it has been granted the rights to develop games based on J.R.R. Tolkien's epic literary fiction, The Lord of the Rings. Since 2001, EA has developed games based exclusively on New Line's Academy Award winning theatrical productions of The Lord of the Rings, as depicted by Peter Jackson. The expansion of the rights allows EA to introduce players to depths of the fiction never before explored in an EA game. The company also revealed today the first details of two new games in the blockbuster The Lord of the Rings series; The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II and The Lord of the Rings Tactics (working title). With the new games, fans will be able to step into a world that looks like the films, but experience characters, environments and battles that have been inspired by the books.
| | World of Warcraft Reaches 1.5 Million Subscribers in China
Worldwide customer base for Blizzard Entertainment's popular MMORPG now more than 3.5 million players
Blizzard Entertainment today announced that World of Warcraft, its subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), has surpassed 1.5 million paying customers in China - just a month following the game's commercial launch on June 7, 2005. The critically acclaimed World of Warcraft has now achieved another significant milestone as the largest MMORPG in the world, with more than 3.5 million global customers.
| | EA and Valve Team Up to Deliver Half Life Worldwide
Electronic Arts, the world's leading interactive entertainment company and Valve, the award-winning studio behind the blockbuster franchises Half-Life and Counter-Strike, today announced that the two companies have entered a multi-year agreement to deliver a collection of Valve games to players worldwide. The first two games to be released under this agreement are Half-Life 2: Game of the Year and Counter-Strike: Source for PC, both launching this fall. In addition, Half-Life 2 for the Xbox video game system from Microsoft, currently in development at Valve and targeted for release in October, will be published and distributed worldwide by EA.
| | EA Signs John Madden to Multi-Year Agreement
Electronic Arts today announced that John Madden, football icon and television analyst of ABC's Monday Night Football, has signed a multi-year agreement to continue to license his name and appear in and consult on the development of future iterations of the blockbuster game that bears his name. Madden NFL 06, the newest iteration of the EA SPORTS best-selling football franchise with the official videogame license of the NFL and its players, will feature the name, voice, likeness and expertise of the celebrated sports personality. EA SPORTS Madden NFL 06 is scheduled for release on August 9, 2005. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
| | Vivendi Licenses Unreal Engine 3 for Next Generation Game Development
Vivendi Universal Games (VU Games) and Epic Games today announced a studio-wide agreement under which VU Games will license Unreal Engine 3 tools and technology for next generation console and PC game development.
VU Games’ internal and external development studios are licensed to use Unreal Engine 3 technology for next generation titles, which are expected to launch starting in 2006. Specific titles will be announced at a later date.
| | Sega Publishing Rome: Total War Expansion
SEGA of America and SEGA Europe today announced that they will add the widely anticipated expansion to the million-selling hit, Rome: Total War to their portfolio. From the makers of the award winning Total War franchise and recently acquired studio, The Creative Assembly, Rome: Total War - Barbarian Invasion for PC-CDROM is set to commence battle on the charts in September 2005 throughout America and Europe.
|
| |