Turbine Selects LETSGAME To Distribute DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE™: Stormreach™ In Korea
Companies Set to Cooperate in Korea's Online Gaming Market
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WESTWOOD, MA - SEPTEMBER 5, 2006 -- Turbine, Inc., a premier publisher of online subscription entertainment, announced today that it has a distribution agreement with LETSGAME, a leading online game and community portal in Korea. Under the agreement, LETSGAME and Turbine will cooperate in localizing DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE: Stormreach (DDO) for the Korean market. LETSGAME will market, distribute and operate the game in that territory. DDO is based on the world-renowned DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® brand franchise from Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS). DUNGEONS & DRAGONS is under license from the Hasbro Properties Group, the intellectual property development arm of Hasbro.
"The Korean market represents an important opportunity for Turbine," said Jeffrey Anderson, president and CEO of Turbine, Inc. "This agreement signals Turbine's commitment to a long-term presence in Korea and the continued rollout of DDO as a global franchise."
LETSGAME is a leading online game and community portal in Korea offering 25 games to over 3.5 million registered users.
"As one of the leading online games operators in Korea, we have a deep understanding of the market," said Jack Shin, chief executive officer of LETSGAME. "There is enormous demand for more MMO titles in our community and through close cooperation with Turbine, we will deliver a premium title to our customers."
"We are excited about the upcoming release of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE: Stormreach in Korea," said Jeff Burdeen, vice president of digital media for the Hasbro Properties Group. "The introduction of a truly unique and innovative massively multiplayer online game for the DDO gaming base reaffirms DUNGEONS & DRAGONS as the premier fantasy brand today."
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE: Stormreach recreates the essence of the classic pen-and-paper roleplaying experience - with an emphasis on non-grinding, instanced quests that provide a unique, immersive experience for each party. Authentic features in the game include customizable characters, dungeons filled with devious traps, monsters and stories from the Eberron® campaign setting, an on-screen d20 (20-sided die) and a dungeon master. The unique online world of Stormreach is a bustling city with thousands of players from around the world. It represents a new paradigm for the MMO genre with unique features including party-based quests, integrated voice chat, real-time action combat, and award winning graphics.
Published by Atari, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATAR) in North America and Europe, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE has been enthusiastically received by many gaming critics, including The New York Times, PC Gamer, Game Informer and many more.
About Turbine, Inc.
Turbine, Inc. is a premier developer, publisher and operator of online subscription entertainment and is headquartered in Westwood, Massachusetts. The company is one of 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 ONLINE: Stormreach, and The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar. For more information on Turbine and its services, please visit www.turbine.com.
About LETSGAME
Founded in 2002 as a game portal service operated by DACOM, a leading Korean telecommunications company, LETSGAME was acquired in 2004 by DATAWAY. After two years of successful management and operation as a premier destination for Korean gamers, DATAWAY changed its name to LETSGAME.
LETSGAME is the leading online game and community portal in Korea offering twenty-five games ranging from MMORPG to Casual Games to over 3.5 million registered users. For more information about LETSGAME, please visit http://www.LETSGAME.com.
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 The Matrix (Enter The Matrix and The Matrix: Path of Neo) and Test Drive®; and mass-market and children's franchises such as Nickelodeon's Blue's Clues and Dora the Explorer, 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 & DRAGONS ONLINE, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, STORMREACH, EBERRON and Wizards of the Coast and related logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Wizards of the Coast Inc. in the U.S. and/or other jurisdictions, and are used with permission. Hasbro and its logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Hasbro, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other jurisdictions, and are used with permission. Atari and the Atari logo are trademarks owned by Atari Interactive, Inc. Turbine and the Turbine logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Turbine, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other jurisdictions. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Contacts:
Adam Mersky
Turbine, Inc.
amersky@turbine.com
781-407-4487
Stacey Clement
360 Public Relations
sclement@360publicrelations.com
617-585-5774