February 28, 2007

EA and iVillage Bringing Casual Online Games to Women

Co-branded Pogo Games Channel on iVillage Will Cater to the 34 MM Women Playing Games Online

If you haven't heard of Poppit! yet, it's time to get your game on. Electronic Arts Inc and iVillage, a division of NBC Universal and the leading online destination for women, today announced that the two companies have joined forces to create a co-branded Games Channel that will live on iVillage.com and be fueled by EA’s Pogo.com. The partnership brings entertainment and stress relief through casual online games to women across America. Starting today, anyone looking for a few minutes or a few hours of online leisure activity can visit http://games.ivillage.com to find Pogo’s simple-to-learn puzzle, word and card games, including Poppit!, a wildly popular favorite of female gamers. Through this unique relationship, Pogo.com becomes the exclusive casual games provider to the 16 million iVillage.com members.

Pogo.com brings its powerhouse suite of casual online game titles such as Poppit!, First Class Solitaire, Word Whomp!™, Hearts, Spades and its premium gaming service, Club Pogo, to iVillage, adding an entertaining and exciting roster of free casual games to iVillage’s existing line-up of channels, including Health, Wellness, Diet & Fitness, Pregnancy & Parenting, Beauty & Style, Home & Food and others.

ComScore MediaMetrix (December 06) reports that 39% of women online visit gaming sites and women spend 83M hours playing games. This compares to 63M hours spent on Google and 47M hours spent on Yahoo! instant messenger. Pogo is the number one gaming site with women 25 – 54.

Nancy Smith, Executive Vice President of Pogo commented, “We couldn’t be happier to be teaming up with iVillage. Not only do we share an audience demographic, but we share a passion for women’s issues and a belief that interactive entertainment is a great way to stay connected, stay sharp and keep a healthy mind. This relationship will allow us to reach even more women than ever before."

“The number of women playing games online has clearly exploded and, as the leading destination for women online, we knew it was time for us to carve out a space where our members could play to their heart’s content,” said Ezra Kucharz, COO, iVillage Properties. “Pogo is the biggest player in the industry and the perfect partner for us as we dive into gaming.”

iVillage members will be invited to participate in monthly game nights on the new Games Channel, where they’ll interact with other Pogo users. Members will also be given two-week passes to try out Club Pogo for free.

For more information on Pogo games, visit www.pogo.com.

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