EA Mobile/Eidos deal
Telephonic Tomb Raider in the offing.
London, UK – September 15, 2008 – Today, Electronic Arts Inc (NASDAQ:ERTS) announced that it has signed an agreement with Eidos Interactive (LSE:SEG), creator of some of the world’s leading videogame properties, which sees the exclusive multi-regional distribution and licensing rights to selected titles from the Eidos catalogue being granted to EA Mobile™, a division of EA’s Casual Entertainment Label, for mobile devices.
Effective immediately, the agreement provides licences to EA across all existing mobile channels and mobile devices for four key titles: Tomb Raider Underworld, Just Cause 2, California Games X and Minesweeper, with a future option on the mobile versions of the majority of Eidos videogame properties for a period of three years.
“Eidos has a valuable portfolio of intellectual property including the world famous Tomb Raider games,” said Javier Ferreira, VP of European Publishing, EA Mobile. “This deal gives EA Mobile immediate access to not one but four high profile titles, which will appeal to a broad audience on mobile platforms.”
“EA Mobile is the world leader for mobile publishing, with excellent carrier and OEM relationships in all corners of the globe,” said Simon Protheroe, Online Publishing Director, Eidos. “We have had great success with Eidos products on mobile platforms to date and this strategic relationship will allow us to focus on making quality mobile titles and utilising the presence and scale that EA Mobile has in the marketplace.”
The Tomb Raider franchise has achieved worldwide recognition with 35 million games sales and two blockbuster movies. Just Cause 2 is the eagerly awaited sequel to the critically acclaimed Just Cause, while California Games X is a brand new version of the 1987 Commodore 64 classic. Minesweeper is one of the most pervasive games of the modern age, versions of it being installed on PCs as standard with the Windows operating system since 1992.
For more information on EA Mobile, please visit www.eamobile.com.
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About Eidos
Eidos Interactive Ltd, creators of some of the world's leading videogame properties, consists of several development studios including Crystal Dynamics, IO Interactive, Beautiful Game Studios and Eidos Montreal, plus sales and distribution offices in Europe and the US. The Group has a valuable portfolio of intellectual property including: Tomb Raider, Hitman, Deus Ex, Championship Manager and Just Cause. Eidos Interactive Ltd is part of SCi Entertainment Group Plc (SEG).
About EA Mobile
EA Mobile™, a division of EA’s Casual Entertainment Label, is the world’s leading wireless entertainment publisher with award-winning games such as Tetris®, Bejeweled®, The Sims™, and Need For Speed™. The EA Mobile portfolio also includes casual games based on the company’s partnership with Hasbro, Inc. including MONOPOLY, YAHTZEE and SCRABBLE (in the U.S. and Canada) as well as sports blockbusters from the EA SPORTS™ brand, including Madden NFL Football, FIFA Soccer and NASCAR®. EA Mobile develops games for multiple mobile platforms including mobile phones, smartphones, the iPhone™ and iPod®. For more information about EA Mobile, please visit www.eamobile.com.
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 video game systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTSTM, EATM, EA SPORTS Freestyle TM and POGOTM. In fiscal 2008, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $3.67 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.
Electronic Arts, EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS Freestyle, and POGO are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Contacts:
Guy McGerr
Weber Shandwick PR for EA Mobile
+44 (0)20 7067 0337
gmcgerr@webershandwick.com
Deborah Coster
EA Casual Entertainment
+44 (0)1483 463664
dcoster@ea.com
Chris Glover
Eidos
+44 (0) 20 8636 3239
chrisg@eidos.co.uk