ELECTRONIC ARTS SIGNS EXCLUSIVE
LICENSING AGREEMENT WITH UEFA
EA to produce official licensed videogame for UEFA
EURO 2004
CHERTSEY, UK. – February 6th, 2004 –
Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS) and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA)
announced today they have signed an agreement for EA to develop, publish, and
distribute the official videogame of UEFA EURO 2004™ under the EA SPORTS™ brand,
which will be an official interactive entertainment experience of the EURO 2004™
tournament. The EA SPORTS UEFA EURO 2004 game will be developed and published by
EA this summer to coincide with the finals of the UEFA EURO 2004™ tournament in
Portugal.
“We are excited to extend UEFA’s
mission of promoting European football at every level of the game through our EA
SPORTS simulation of the EURO 2004 final tournament event,” said Jan Bolz, Vice
President, Sales and Marketing for EA Europe. “Combining EA’s global expertise
in football videogames with UEFA’s passionate European fan base will give
football fans endless opportunity to relive the excitement and drama of EURO
2004.”
In EURO 2004 mode players can play
as any of the 51 European nations. Players can arrange and play friendly matches
against other nations or play through the tournament going from qualifying, to
playoffs and into the finals. In addition to tracking injuries and suspensions,
a new dynamic morale system will track players’ morale, which will fluctuate
based on individual and team performances and affect player abilities on the
field.
The official UEFA EURO 2004
videogame is currently under development by an EA Canada team, EA’s largest
development studio that is world-renown for creating critically-acclaimed, best
selling sports games. The officially licensed EURO 2004 videogame is scheduled
for release on the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, the Xbox® video
game system from Microsoft, and the PC to coincide with the EURO 2004 finals in
Portugal this summer.
About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts (EA), headquartered
in Redwood City, California, is the world’s leading interactive entertainment
software company. Founded in 1982, Electronic Arts posted revenues of $2.5
billion for fiscal 2003. The company develops, publishes, and distributes
interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers and
the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under three brand names: EA
SPORTS, EA GAMES™, and EA SPORTS BIG™. 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 UEFA
UEFA is the governing body of
European football and is responsible for safeguarding the development and
interests of the sport at all levels, both professional and amateur, both in the
EU and the rest of Europe. Established in 1954 in Paris UEFA is celebrating its
50th anniversary in 2004.
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. All other trademarks are the
property of their respective owners.
