New edition of best selling franchise out now for mobile phone gaming
October 18, 2004
[This unedited press release is made available courtesy of Game Developer and its partnership with notable game PR-related resource Games Press]
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London, UK - 18th October 2004: Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS), the world's leading interactive entertainment software company, together with Digital Bridges, a world leader in the creation and distribution of mobile entertainment solutions, today announced the availability of EA SPORTSTM FIFA Football 2005 Mobile International Edition across Digital Bridges' European distribution network. The 2005 edition builds on the huge success of EA SPORTSTM FIFA Football 2004 Mobile International Edition, which dominated the Top 10 mobile charts for much of the past 12 months. Since its first launch as a mobile game with the 2003 edition, EA SportsTM FIFA Football has generated over one million paid-for downloads in Europe.
EA SPORTSTM FIFA Football 2005 Mobile International Edition is the first title to be launched under the new partnership between EA and Digital Bridges. The recently announced agreement evolves the past licensing relationship between the two companies into a comprehensive arrangement through which EA now produces and develops its own mobile titles, while making use of Digital Bridges' mobile-specific expertise, connectivity technology, and multi-channel distribution network to maximize the presence and sales of top EA titles in the mobile space.
"EA's direct involvement in the mobile gaming space is a testament to the potential we see in this growing market", said Andrew Corcoran, Director of Business Strategy at Electronic Arts Europe. "We're focused on delivering a mobile gaming experience that is consistent with our games designed for PC or console play, and FIFA is the first of a series of new mobile editions to come.
To reinforce the mobile gaming platform as a significant choice for consumers, the FIFA marketing and advertising campaigns include - for the first time - a newly created "mobile version" logo. The new logo from EA will appear on all its games designed for mobile play and will help consumers to quickly identify the titles available for mobile downloads.
EA SPORTSTM FIFA Football 2005 Mobile International Edition achieves full integration with the 2005 console game's look and feel. Improvements made to the hugely successful 2004 mobile version include:
New isometric viewpoint with TV-style camera angles taking players to the heart of the action
Greater feeling of height and gameplay perspective
New One-Touch feature allows the player to trap and pass/move the ball in one fluid motion
Instant replays give players the opportunity to review their goal scoring exploits and show them to friends.
The real-world national team names, player names and team and player stats that feature in the game have been updated from the official EA Sports database. The 16 national teams available in EA SPORTSÔ FIFA Football 2005 Mobile International Edition include Argentina, Brazil, Cameroon, England, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, Scotland, Spain and the USA.
Each of the 22 players on the pitch are controlled by advanced artificial intelligence, with the gamer switching control between players as they create intricate link plays, inch-perfect passes and long-range shots. In addition to featuring all the greatest international players in the world, the game will be promoted by three of football's biggest names: Patrick Vieira, Andrei Shevchenko and Fernando Morientes, through an endorsement recently announced by EA.
Paul Maglione, Senior Vice President of Publishing and Marketing for Digital Bridges commented: "We are thrilled to be distributing our first EA title under the terms of our new strategic partnership with Electronic Arts, especially one that has such a proven track record in the mobile games space. By underlining its commitment to mobile and to Digital Bridges, Electronic Arts has given a huge endorsement of both the company and the industry as a whole."
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About EA SPORTS
EA SPORTSTM (www.easports.com) is the leading interactive sports software brand in the world. Its top-selling franchises and games include FIFA soccer, John Madden FootballTM, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR Golf, NHL® hockey, Knockout KingsTM boxing, NBA LIVE basketball, Triple Play BaseballTM and NASCAR ThunderTM racing.
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 SPORTSTM, EA GAMESTM and EA SPORTS BIGTM. 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
About Digital Bridges
Founded in 1998, Digital Bridges is a world leader in the creation and distribution of mobile entertainment solutions. An industry pioneer, Digital Bridges provides the best in mobile entertainment to a global distribution network of operators, portals, retailers, interactive TV channels and other e-commerce outlets, representing over 400 million subscribers worldwide. The company possesses a unique combination of mobile technology, development and publishing expertise, and works with many of the world's leading media and entertainment brands including Crash BandicootTM, RollerballTM, RobocopTM, The Pink PantherTM, PlatoonTM, The Fast and the FuriousTM, Weakest Link, Space Invaders®, EA SPORTSTM FIFA Football 2004 Mobile International Edition and EA SPORTSTM Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® 2004. UNITY, the company's best-in-class technology platform, supports all current and future mobile standards, protocols, technologies and operating systems. Digital Bridges' investors include Apax Partners, Argo Global Capital and Openwave Systems Inc. Digital Bridges has its commercial and publishing headquarters in London, with technology & production divisions in Dunfermline, Scotland, as well as sales offices in Paris and New York.
For more information, please call +44 (0)20 7901 1760 or visit us at our corporate site www.digitalbridges.com , our games publishing site www.dbigames.com or our mobile games retail packs site www.dbiplay.com
*All brands are registered trademarks of their respective owners.
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