EA's EARTH & BEYOND GOES GOLD The first online role-playing galaxy ships to stores in North America September 24

LAS VEGAS (Sept. 13, 2002) - The countdown to launch has begun!  EA announced today that the massively multiplayer online role-playing galaxy, Earth & Beyond(tm), has gone gold and will ship to stores in North America Sept. 24.  The game is being developed by Westwood Studios(tm) and will be published by Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS) under the EA GAMES(tm) brand.

Westwood will ship a limited quantity of Earth & Beyond to major software retailers beginning Sept. 24.  Westwood is controlling the release of the game to make certain that new players will have the best experience possible as they enter the galaxy.

"We want to ensure a great experience for everyone, so we'll control the flow of new players into the game, preventing what could be a galactic traffic jam," said Craig Alexander, vice president and executive producer of Earth & Beyond. "Starting Sept 24, we'll ship new copies of Earth & Beyond to stores every week, populating each game server with thousands of players."

In Earth & Beyond, players become captains of their own starships and live futuristic galactic adventures as they explore, trade and fight with thousands of others.  In addition, because this is a living, dynamic universe, players will face new challenges over time as the developers add sectors, planets, missions, monsters, characters, features, evolving plot lines and more.

"Earth & Beyond is a galaxy that will grow and change in many ways over the next weeks, months and years. We have huge surprises in store," Alexander said.

Westwood is currently conducting a public test of Earth & Beyond with thousands of people playing every day, and will continue to select new testers through September 23.  Anyone wishing to participate in the public test can sign up at the official Earth & Beyond website (www.earthandbeyond.com ), or through GameSpy.com at www.fileplanet.com. 

In addition, gamers who pre-purchase the retail version of Earth & Beyond at Electronics Boutique, GameStop, Amazon.com, or EA.com stores will be included automatically in the public test without having to sign up at the official Earth & Beyond website.

ABOUT WESTWOOD STUDIOS

Westwood Studios is a prominent publisher of best-selling PC and next-generation console games.  Formed in 1985, Westwood is the creator of the 15-million + selling Command & Conquer^TM franchise that includes Command & Conquer, Tiberian Sun^TM, Red Alert^TM 1 and 2, and Command & Conquer Renegade(tm).  Westwood has also released award-winning titles such as Blade Runner^TM, Monopoly®, and the Lands of Lore^TM series.  Looking forward, Westwood is expanding to new franchises and genres with upcoming titles such as Earth & Beyond.  More information can be found at the company's official website at http://www.westwood.ea.com.

ABOUT ELECTRONIC ARTS

Electronic Arts, headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, Electronic Arts posted revenues of more than $1.7 billion for fiscal 2002. The company develops, publishes and distributes software worldwide for the Internet, personal computers and video game systems. EA markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTS(tm), EA GAMES(tm), EA SPORTS BIG(tm) and EA.COM^SM.  More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.

Electronic Arts, Westwood Studios, Earth & Beyond, Command & Conquer, Command & Conquer Renegade, Tiberian Sun, Red Alert, Lands of Lore, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS BIG and EA GAMES are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.  EA.COM is a service mark of EA.com Inc. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.