GameTap Announces Licensing Deal With Strategy First Inc. To Debut Game Previews On The Network
Partnership Provides Content Arc that Builds Advance Awareness of Games to Eventually Featuring the Final Product on the GameTap Network
For Immediate Release
ATLANTA - March 2, 2006 - GameTap, the first-of-its-kind broadband entertainment network from Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS, Inc.), today announced a deal with software publisher Strategy First, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Silverstar Holdings, Ltd. (NASDAQ: SSTR), to preview full versions of many of the company's upcoming titles to GameTap subscribers prior to their retail release. This announcement, which marks the premiere of GameTap's foray into the game preview space, also provides GameTap with rights to license new titles from Strategy First during the post retail phase. The deal also includes 40 Strategy First library titles which will be added to the GameTap service.
"The GameTap audience will benefit from our relationship with Strategy First by being able to play these great new games first," said GameTap General Manager Stuart Snyder. "By previewing these new games on our service, GameTap subscribers have access to brand new games, and publishers have another innovative promotional vehicle for new titles."
Strategy First was founded in 1990 and built its profile with unique franchises and titles. Among those library titles slated for GameTap are the Disciples and Jagged Alliance franchises, as well as Legion Gold, Battle of Europe and the Space Empires series.
"We are thrilled to be the first publisher to share game previews and trailers with consumers who subscribe to the GameTap network," said Strategy First Product Manager, Emanuel Wall. "In addition to providing an outlet for building buzz around our upcoming games, GameTap provides the perfect home for our catalogue once it moves beyond the retail window."
In addition to this deal with Strategy First, GameTap has already licensed more than 1,200 games from other publishers including Activision, Atari, Eidos Interactive, G-Mode, Intellivision Lives, Midway, Namco, SEGA, TAITO, Team 17, Ubisoft, Vivendi Universal Games, Codemasters, Cyan, Ironstone, Taurus Media, Electronic Arts, Capcom®, Take-Two Interactive Software, First Star Software, Dreamcatcher Interactive, Knowledge Adventure, 3000AD and Telegames.
About GameTap
GameTap delivers hundreds of the greatest games-on-demand plus original programming via a broadband-connected PC. To access GameTap, players securely download and install Turner-developed client software from www.gametap.com that acts as a gateway to the GameTap vault. Because games reside securely on the PC, not across a network, they act just as if they were still on the console or at the arcade. Fast response times, 3D effects, colors, and characters are all present and accounted for. New games and original programming will be added to the service each week. GameTap supports navigation and game play using keyboard and mouse, as well as most USB peripherals.
About Turner
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS, Inc.), a Time Warner company, is a major producer of news and entertainment products around the world and the leading provider of programming for the basic cable industry.
About Strategy First
Strategy First Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Silverstar Holdings (NASDAQ: SSTR), is a leading developer and worldwide publisher of entertainment software for the PC. Founded in 1990, the Company is well known for its proprietary groundbreaking titles, such as the award winning Disciples and Jagged Alliance series of games, which are both under continuing development. Simultaneously, Strategy First continues to publish many of the industry's major titles, winning numerous awards for games such as "Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns," "Steel Beasts," and "Galactic Civilizations." Recent offerings include top releases such as "S.C.S. - Dangerous WatersTM" and "Disney's Aladdin Chess Adventures." The Company provides a unique alternative for independent developers seeking to market their games to a worldwide audience. www.strategyfirst.com .
About Silverstar Holdings
Silverstar Holdings Ltd. is a publicly traded company (NASDAQ: SSTR), focusing on acquiring controlling positions in high growth retail driven and fee-based electronic game businesses that stand to benefit from the economies of scale generated by the Internet and other technology related platforms. It currently owns Fantasy Sports, Inc., a dominant provider of fee-based NASCAR related and other fantasy sports games, Strategy First Inc., a leading developer and worldwide publisher of entertainment software for the PC, as well as a stake in Magnolia Broadband, a fab-less semiconductor company and innovator of radio frequency (RF) solutions for the cellular industry. www.silverstarholdings.com
For more information please contact:
Clint Bagley
Access Communications for GameTap
415-844-6250
cbagley@accesspr.com
Misty Skedgell
TBS, Inc.
404-885-4396
misty.skedgell@turner.com