Turbine Adds Japan To Its Worldwide Depolyment Of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE™: Stormreach™
SAKURA Internet Will Distribute the Title to Fans in 2006
WESTWOOD, MA, March 8, 2006 - Turbine, Inc., a leading publisher of online subscription entertainment, announced that it has signed a distribution agreement with SAKURA Internet Inc., a major Japanese collocation and Internet telecommunication connectivity service provider for corporations including online gaming and Internet service providers. Under the terms of the deal, Turbine will work closely with SAKURA to localize DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINETM: StormreachTM for the Japanese market. SAKURA also will market, distribute, and operate the game in that territory. DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE: Stormreach successfully launched last week in the United States and Europe, after more than 400,000 players signed up for the Beta before launch in those territories. The property is under license from the Hasbro Properties Group, the intellectual property development arm of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS).
"SAKURA has a rich online history and tradition in Japan and we are tremendously excited to be in partnership with them," said Jeffrey Anderson, president and CEO of Turbine, Inc. "We see the Japanese market as an exciting opportunity for the title."
"Our vision is to lead the growth of online games in Japan," said Ryo Sasada, President and CEO of SAKURA Internet Inc. "We believe that DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE TM is the perfect franchise for us to deliver to our audience as part of this strategy."
Developed by Turbine and published by Atari, Inc. in the US and Europe, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE: Stormreach is the first and only massively multiplayer online roleplaying game based on the world-renowned DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® brand franchise from Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro. This unique online world features highly customizable characters built from authentic DUNGEONS & DRAGONS races, abilities, skills, and feats; real-time action combat; dangerous dungeons with devious traps; hand-crafted, private adventures; monsters and stories from the action-packed and intrigue-laced Eberron® campaign setting; and award-winning visuals.
About Turbine
Turbine, Inc. is a premier producer, publisher and operator of online subscription entertainment and is headquartered in Westwood, Mass. The Company is the largest privately-held online games company in North America. Turbine's catalogue includes some of the most famous online entertainment brands, including Asheron's Call®, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINETM: StormreachTM and The Lord of the Rings OnlineTM: Shadows of AngmarTM. For more information on Turbine and its services, please visit www.turbine.com.
About SAKURA
SAKURA Internet Inc. is a provider of collocation, the Internet telecommunication connectivity, dedicated server service and rental server service and is headquartered in Chuo-ku, Osaka. The Company is listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange MOTHERS Market. SAKURA is a premier data communication connection service provider based on 44Gbps high-capacity and high-speed backbone through its independent data centers with technological strength backed by over six-year experience of hosting and data center operation.
About Atari
New York-based Atari, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATAR) develops interactive games for all platforms and is one of the largest third-party publishers of interactive entertainment software in the U.S. The Company's 1,000+ titles include hard-core, genre-defining franchises such as DRIVERTM, The MatrixTM (Enter The Matrix and The Matrix: Path of Neo), StuntmanTM and Test Drive®; and mass-market and children's franchises such as Nickelodeon's Blue's CluesTM and Dora the ExplorerTM, and Dragon Ball Z®. Atari, Inc. is a majority-owned subsidiary of France-based Infogrames Entertainment SA (Euronext - ISIN: FR-0000052573), the largest interactive games publisher in Europe. For more information, visit www.atari.com.
About The HASBRO PROPERTIES GROUP
The Hasbro Properties Group (HPG), the intellectual property development arm of Hasbro, Inc., (NYSE:HAS), translates one of the industry's richest portfolios of brands into a world of fun and excitement for children and adults globally. Through a host of publishing, digital media, lifestyle and entertainment platforms, HPG is able to surround fans worldwide with consumer products that expand Hasbro's core brands, such as TRANSFORMERS, LITTLEST PET SHOP, MY LITTLE PONY, MONOPOLY, G.I. JOE, TONKA and PLAYSKOOL.
DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS ONLINE, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, STORMREACH, EBERRON and WIZARDS OF THE COAST and related logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Wizards of the Coast Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions, and are used with permission. TURBINE and the TURBINE logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Turbine, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Stacey Clement
360 Public Relations
sclement@360publicrelations.com
617-585-5774