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International Entertainment News

Tuesday, February 01, 2005

PlayFirst Signs Distribution Agreements With Major Online Game Destinations, Including Shockwave.com(TM), MSN(R) Games, RealArcade(R) and Others

PlayFirst Signs Distribution Agreements With Major Online Game Destinations, Including Shockwave.com(TM), MSN(R) Games, RealArcade(R) and Others

Leading Publisher Launches Popular Games via More Than 250 Web Sites in 10 Countries Around the World

LAS VEGAS, Feb. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- At the 2005 D.I.C.E. Summit today, PlayFirst, a leading full-service publisher of popular online games, announced that it has signed distribution agreements with some of the industry's top online game sites and networks, including Shockwave.com, MSN Games, Oberon(TM) Media, RealArcade, Trymedia Systems, and Big Fish Games (see attached quote sheet). Through these partnerships, PlayFirst games are available via more than 250 sites in 10 countries.

Diner Dash(TM), one of three titles from PlayFirst that launched early this year, has already proven overwhelmingly popular with online game players, maintaining a Top Five spot on both Shockwave.com and Trymedia Systems' distribution networks. Diner Dash was also recognized by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences and nominated for its 2005 Interactive Achievement Award.

"PlayFirst is committed to securing the broadest possible distribution for our games and we are thrilled to be working with these leading Internet brands," said John Welch, president and CEO, PlayFirst. "The response from these partners validates our focus on popular games that appeal to a mass market audience of both new and seasoned game players."

PlayFirst has emerged as a full-service publisher focused on the exploding online popular games market. Analyst firm IDC estimates U.S. revenue from this market will exceed $760 million in 2007. PlayFirst publishes original and third party games from leading developers, including the award-winning studios gameLab and Mind Control Software. All PlayFirst games are available for trial before purchase. Game players can now download the full version of Diner Dash, Subway Scramble(TM) and Spellagories(TM) for $20 from major games Web sites. For more information on games from PlayFirst, visit www.playfirst.com.

About PlayFirst, Inc.

PlayFirst, Inc. publishes popular games targeted at the mass market through all online consumer platforms. As Internet penetration has grown to 90 million users in the U.S. alone, including 30 million broadband customers, the Internet has become a viable distribution outlet for games. The company was founded in 2004 by veterans of Internet portals, traditional games publishers and technology firms and received venture funding from Mayfield and Trinity Ventures. For more information: www.playfirst.com.

PlayFirst Partner Quote Sheet

"We've created a family friendly game service for consumers around the
world to easily find, download and play the best games with RealArcade.
PlayFirst's commitment to publishing compelling games for online game
players is a perfect fit for our strategy to bring casual games to the
mass market."

Duncan Magee
Senior Director Games Content
RealNetworks


"Consumers of all ages look to Shockwave.com for a broad selection of the
Web's very best games. The popularity of Diner Dash with our audience is
a validation of its engaging and accessible storyline, which represents
some of the best gameplay available online today."

Scott Roesch
VP Marketing
Shockwave.com


"Our distribution network enables PlayFirst to expand the market and
capture new audiences for their titles including Diner Dash. PlayFirst
understands the benefits of digital distribution including the ability
for customers to download and immediately start playing games."

Gabe Zichermann
VP of Strategy and Communications
Trymedia Systems


"PlayFirst has an impressive 'three for three' record of releasing hit
games on Big Fish Games. We have been pleasantly surprised at how well
they understand the casual game market's unique demographic. Their latest
game, Diner Dash, is currently the number one most downloaded game on our
site!"

Paul Thelen
Founder and CEO
Big Fish Games LLC



Source: PlayFirst, Inc.

CONTACT: Megan Novak of Alta Public Relations, +1-415-503-3927, or
megan@altapr.com, for PlayFirst

Web site: http://www.playfirst.com/


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