NHL AND ELECTRONIC ARTS BRING THE EA SPORTS NHL 2004 GLOBAL CHAMPIONSHIP TO NORTH AMERICA

NEW YORK (SEPT. 30, 2003) - The National Hockey League and Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) will partner to bring gamers and hockey fans the third EA SPORTS™ NHL® 2004 Global Championship, an international NHL 2004 video game tournament.  The championship, the NHL's largest retail promotion, will be held in the United States and Canada, and is planned for additional international locations throughout Europe.

The EA SPORTS NHL 2004 Global Championship gives fans ages 13-and-over the opportunity to play against fellow gamers in NHL 2004 video game tournaments beginning in North America on Oct. 4 at select GameStop and Electronics Boutique retail locations. The competition culminates in a final round to crown the NHL 2004 Global Champion during the NHL All-Star Weekend in St. Paul, Minn., Feb. 6-8, 2004.

The winners from the first regional qualifying rounds of the Global Championship will then advance to their respective finals tournaments. The national finals winners will win a trip to All-Star Weekend to compete for a chance to be crowned the NHL 2004 Global Champion.

"EA SPORTS is one of our biggest and most creative partners, and we are proud to once again join them in delivering such a popular, exciting and global event to our loyal fans and gamers," said Brian Jennings, group vice president, NHLE consumer products marketing.

Jeff Karp, VP of Marketing for EA Canada, said, "We are pleased to partner with the NHL on this global initiative that combines the competitive spirit of our EA SPORTS videogames with the intense passion NHL fans have for their sport."

Tournaments in the United States and Canada will be promoted at more than 500 GameStop (U.S.) and Electronics Boutique Canada retail locations.

The regional tournaments in the United States will run on Oct. 4 at select GameStop locations in 12 NHL markets-Boston, Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minnesota, St. Louis, New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Jose and New York City. The U.S. national finals will be held in New York City on Oct. 25.

Canadian regional tournaments will take place in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Manitoba at select Electronics Boutique locations on Oct. 4, with the Canadian national finals tournament occurring in Toronto on Oct. 25.

The winners will then compete for the title of NHL 2004 Global Champion at the last round of the Tournament to be held during NHL All-Star Weekend.

Last year Germany captured the EA SPORTS NHL 2003 Global Championships, with Finland winning the inaugural year.
NHL 2004 is now available for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, Xbox™ video game system from Microsoft, Nintendo GameCube™, and PC CD-ROM. NHL 2004 delivers the most authentic hockey experience to date, with new features that accentuate the fast-paced, physical nature of the sport. New "Bruise Control™" feature lets players charge up huge hits to level the competition and the game supports online play for the PlayStation 2 console via EA SPORTS™ Nation online.

Visit www.nhl2004.com  for more information about the EA SPORTS NHL 2004 Global Championship or the game's online features (on the website's platform specific pages).

About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, Electronic Arts posted revenues of $2.5 billion for fiscal 2003. The company develops, publishes and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under three brand names: EA SPORTS™, EA GAMES™, and EA SPORTS BIG™. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com.  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, EA, EA SPORTS, EA GAMES, EA SPORTS BIG, and Bruise Control are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. NHL and the National Hockey League are registered trademarks of the National Hockey League. All NHL logos and marks and team logos and marks depicted herein are the property of the NHL and the respective teams and may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of NHL Enterprises, L.P. © 2003 NHL. All Rights Reserved. National Hockey League Players' Association and NHLPA are trademarks of the NHLPA and are used under license by Electronic Arts Inc. © NHLPA. PlayStation is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Nintendo GameCube is a trademark of Nintendo. Microsoft and Xbox are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries and are used under license from Microsoft. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners

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