iGames to Celebrate Retail Launch of Guild Wars with Events to Thrill Fans of the Highly Anticipated Online RPG
Special iGames Events to Include Official Premier, April 30; All-Night WANdemonium! Party, May 7; iGames Guild Wars Showcase, May 9-22
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF, April 27, 2005 - iGames, the world's leading game center organization, today announced a program of exclusive events to celebrate the April 28 retail launch of Guild Wars®. Guild Wars is a revolutionary new online role playing game developed by ArenaNet® and published by NCsoft®. The series of events that will take place over the next five weeks will begin with the official premier on Saturday, April 30 at participating iGames game centers in North America.
The one-day premier event will be followed by an all-night WANdemonium party May 7, and the Official iGames Guild Wars Showcase May 9-22, which allows players to sample the game at their leisure over a 14-day period. ArenaNet will offer hundreds of headsets as prizes donated by a third party technology company to player participants.
Guild Wars is a global RPG that allows players to connect anywhere and play with others at any time, without any subscription fee required. Players are immersed in a colorful, robust and detailed online world where they can choose to play for minutes or hours at a time. Additionally, success is determined by player skill, not by the time spent playing.
Guild Wars is one of the best-selling preorder PC games year-to-date in North America. More than 500,000 players have participated in public preview events worldwide. In Korea, Guild Wars was named the number one most anticipated game of 2005 by The Electronic Times.
"Guild Wars appeals to all types of game players, so it's great that they'll have a chance to sample the game at iGames centers," Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet said. "The community iGames offers with its game centers is a perfect fit for the unique, global game world of Guild Wars."
"Our customized program of events will appeal to fans of every stripe," said Mark Nielsen, executive director of iGames. "With the premier, the all-night WANdemonium! party and the Showcase, we've created a game environment that appeals to both hardcore players and casual enthusiasts. If the signup response we've received so far is any indication, Guild Wars is going to be one of the biggest global RPG games of the year."
For a complete list of iGames game centers hosting the premier and other upcoming iGames events, including signup details, visit: www.igames.org/Events.asp?Event=4245 or contact Carol Bennett, iGames Events Director, at carol@igames.org. Developed by ArenaNet and published by its parent company NCsoft, Guild Wars has an expected retail price of $49.99 in the United States. The ESRB rating is T for Teen. For more information about Guild Wars, visit ArenaNet's official game site at http://www.guildwars.com.
About iGames
iGames, Inc. offers a wide range of services to help independent and franchised game centers. iGames' mission is to promote and develop the growth of the game center industry. Its services unite game centers with the goal of establishing them as the driving force enabling the interactive entertainment industry to become the number one form of entertainment around the world. iGames has established strong relationships with industry leaders to provide a wide variety of products,
services and programs to member game centers and gamers including software licensing, hardware discounts, exclusive game premiers, tournaments, and leagues. Today the company counts well over 500 centers and 45,000 gamers, initiating and co-organizing more than 200 events a year. To learn more about iGames, go to www.igames.org.
About ArenaNet
ArenaNet, located in Bellevue, Washington, is a wholly owned subsidiary of NCsoft and was founded by some of the key members of the creative teams that developed the hit game series StarCraft, Warcraft, and Diablo as well as Battle.net. ArenaNet has built a state-of-the-art, interactive game network and is developing premier multiplayer online games for dedicated game players. More information about ArenaNet can be found at www.arena.net.
About NCsoft North America
NCsoft - North America (NC-NA) is headquartered in Austin, Texas and is part of Korea-based NCsoft Corporation. NC-NA, with development and administrative offices in Texas and California, launched two ground-breaking titles in the first half of 2004, Lineage® II and City of Heroes®. The company also works with NCsoft subsidiaries and third party developers throughout North America to develop and publish innovative online entertainment software products. More information about NCsoft - North America can be found at http://www.PlayNC.com.
Press Contact:
Bill Lessard
iGames
(914) 476-6089