QUALIFY AS A TOP FOOTBALLER ON XBOX LIVE

London, 30 September 2004 - Think your online football skills are in the premier league? Looking for a way to fast-track through the FIFA Interactive World Cup, the world's first ever FIFA sanctioned video game tournament? Well, from the 15 October 2004, you can - by taking part in the FIFA Interactive World Cup Qualifying Tournament on Xbox^® Live^TM. Members of the Xbox Live service can play EA SPORTS^TM FIFA Football 2005 online with the top 60 scorers automatically qualifying for the Regional Tournament.

The FIFA Interactive World Cup Qualifying Tournament on Xbox Live is a collaborative initiative, brought to gamers by Xbox, FIFA and Electronic Arts, the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. It runs on the Xbox Live service from 15 October to 5 November, 2004. On 5 November, 60 winners will be selected from the EA SPORTS^TM FIFA Football 2005 leader boards. Each wins a trip to one of the FIFA Interactive World Cup Regional Tournaments to be held in London (20 November 2004), Paris (4 December 2004) and Berlin (11 December 2004) plus automatic entry in that Regional Tournament where they get the chance to kick, defend, tackle and score their way to win the ultimate video game bragging rights - being named FIFA Interactive World Player 2004.

They will also receive two night's accommodation near to the Regional Tournament venue, dinner the night before the event, a relaxing pre-match massage, a limousine to transport them from their hotel to the FIFA Interactive World Cup Regional Tournament, plus a commemorative FIFA Interactive World Cup VIP T-Shirt.

How to take part:

Xbox Live members first need to go to the following URL and register for the tournament from today: http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/fifainteractiveworldcup/qualifier.htm

After registering, all members need to do is play EA SPORTS^TM FIFA Football 2005 on Xbox Live. The FIFA Interactive World Cup Qualifying Tournament on Xbox Live kicks off at (00:01hrs GMT) on 15 October, 2004 and ends at approximately (11:59hrs GMT) on 5 November, 2004 when the EA SPORTS^TM FIFA Football 2005 leader boards will be recorded and the 60 highest ranked eligible players will be determined.

To be eligible, gamers must own an Xbox, a copy of EA SPORTS^TM FIFA Football 2005, be over 18 and have an active Xbox Live account. They must also be in one of the 14 participating European countries - Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, UK, Switzerland. Full terms and conditions of the tournament can be found at: http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/fifainteractiveworldcup/qualifiertsandcs.htm

The FIFA Interactive World Cup is a new video game tournament combining on and off-line football gaming action featuring EA SPORTS^TM FIFA Football 2005 on Xbox and Xbox Live. The FIFA Interactive World Cup will travel to six continents from October to December 2004. Not only are football fans given the chance to win the ultimate prize - being named FIFA Interactive World Player 2004 - but at each of the eight Regional Tournaments they will also have the chance to sharpen up their real-world football skills with the pros, enjoying music from big-name DJs, and lots of surprises. Specific details on each event will be available at http://www.FIFAinteractiveworldcup.com.

"The FIFA Interactive World Cup Qualifying Tournament on Xbox Live is just one of the great ways to take part in this new, officially endorsed FIFA tournament. We're anticipating some fierce online, competitive football action and, of course, we look forward to the ultimate final when we will be awarding the FIFA Interactive World Player 2004," said FIFA General Secretary Urs Linsi.

"We're delighted to be part of this official FIFA initiative - it's the first of its kind and unique in so many other ways - from the sheer scale of the event to the fabulous and totally unique prize. It's also great to see interactive football on the same playing field as real-world football. European Xbox Live members have a real competitive edge in the FIFA Interactive World Cup because they can sharpen their interactive skills playing against thousands of other members throughout Europe", said Michel Cassius, Senior Director, Xbox platform and Marketing. "This strong competition plus the excitement of EA's FIFA 2005 will make for a lot of fun."

"The FIFA Interactive World Cup combines interactive entertainment with a passion for sports competition," said Jens Uwe Intat, Vice President and Managing Director of EA's Central European Region. "Online game-play brings a brand new dimension to the game and we know that FIFA Football fans everywhere are going to have a lot of fun meeting this brand new challenge on Xbox Live."

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To request a copy of the FIFA Interactive World Cup emblem, visit:

http://www.fifadigitalarchive.com/welcome/login/login.pt

About FIFA

For the past 100 years, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, founded on 21 May 1904 in Paris and better known as FIFA, has continued to provide the essential leadership role to the international football family. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, the eighth FIFA President, Joseph S. Blatter (Switzerland), guides the organisation today with a commitment to the evolution of FIFA as a modern and dynamic association. The basis of the world's football family is formed by FIFA's member associations. From the founding seven in 1904, the family has today grown to 205 affiliated associations, also organised into six confederations spanning the globe. FIFA's worldwide activities go well beyond its various competitions, such as the world's biggest single-sport event, the FIFA World Cup^TM. In projects such as SOS Children's Villages and the FIFA Goal Programme, FIFA gives material, financial and promotional support to develop the game and bring joy to underprivileged children worldwide.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts, headquartered in Redwood City , California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, EA posted revenues of $2.96 billion for fiscal 2004. The company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers and the Internet. In 2003, EA had 27 titles that sold more than one million copies. Electronic Arts markets its products under three brand names: EA SPORTS^TM, EA GAMES^TM and EA SPORTS BIG^TM. 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 Xbox

Xbox (http://www.xbox.com <<a target="_new" class="releaselink" href="http://www.xbox.com/>">http://www.xbox.com/> ) is the video game system from Microsoft that brings people together for the most exhilarating game and entertainment experiences. Xbox delivers an expansive collection of breakthrough games, powerful hardware and the unified Xbox Live online service. The new tagline, "it's good to play together," captures the spirit of Xbox as the social hub of the new digital entertainment lifestyle. Xbox is now available in Europe for an estimated street price of 149.99/£99.99.

About Xbox Live

Xbox Live is the first comprehensive, online game service fully dedicated to fast-action broadband gaming experiences. Xbox Live allows gamers to play multiplayer Xbox games with other gamers everywhere via a broadband Internet connection. With a built-in hard drive and Ethernet port, the Xbox console was built from the ground up to be an online gaming system so there's no need to buy additional peripherals.

Xbox Live enables all gamers to find and play with their friends easily; talk to other players during game play through the Xbox Communicator headset; and download current statistics, new levels and characters to their Xbox hard drive; and play online.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software - any time, any place and on any device.

Electronic Arts, EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS BIG and EA GAMES are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Microsoft, Xbox and Xbox Live, are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.