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Free-to-Play Soccer Game on Facebook Called EA SPORTS FIFA Superstars Now Available ; First Game From EA/Playfish Partnership Brings World's Most Popular Soccer Videogame Franchise to Hundreds of Millions of Fans(Business Wire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - (BUSINESS WIRE) - Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced that EA SPORTS™ 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™. Developed by Playfish, EA SPORTS™ FIFA Superstars is a free-to-play^ social game that has launched on Facebook®. 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®3 and Xbox 360® 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™, players can predict the outcomes of games in the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ 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™ 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® hockey, NBA ELITE basketball, NCAA® Football, Fight Night boxing, EA SPORTS MMA, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® golf, and EA SPORTS Active™. 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™, EA™, EA Mobile™ and POGO™. 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™ 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® is a registered trademark of Facebook Inc. Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6324264&lang=en Electronic Arts Inc. Steve Frost, 604-456-5067 Sr. Publicist [email protected] or Jen Riley, 604-456-5081 PR Director [email protected] or David Tinson, 650-628-5189 V-P, Communications [email protected] or Playfish Tom Sarris, 415-578-3194 Dir. of Global Communications [email protected] (c) 2010 Business Wire. All Rights Reserved. |