SONY ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT AND NCSOFT JOIN
FORCES TO EXPAND THE WORLD OF EVERQUEST(r) IN ASIA
-Sony Online Continues Global Expansion
with Strategic Partnership in Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong-
SAN DIEGO, CA and SEOUL, KOREA – January 23,
2002 – Sony Online Entertainment Inc., a worldwide leader in massively
multiplayer online gaming, and NCsoft(tm) Corp., the world’s largest independent
online game company, announced today a strategic partnership to bring
EverQuest(r), to the burgeoning Asian market. As part of the agreement, NCsoft
will host EverQuest on its game servers in Korea, maintain a robust customer
service department and work with SOE on marketing initiatives focused on the
Korean market. The two companies expect the game to be available during the
summer of 2002 and plan to bring the service to other Asian territories
including Taiwan and Hong Kong in the future. Terms of the agreement were not
disclosed.
"One of our main goals at Sony Online is to
expand the online gaming community by making great games like EverQuest readily
available to consumers around the globe," said Kelly Flock, president, Sony
Online Entertainment. "NCsoft is the perfect partner given its knowledge of the
Korean game market, its own success with Lineage, and its direct access to
millions of gamers from day one."
Over the past twelve months, SOE has actively
expanded its international presence, deploying an EverQuest game server in
Europe and developing translation software to allow players from all over the
world to communicate in real-time using their native languages.
"The Korean market is ready and waiting for a
game like EverQuest," said Richard Garriott, executive producer at NCsoft’s
Austin, Texas subsidiary. "We have seen incredible success with Lineage and we
are excited to introduce a new genre of massively multiplayer online gaming to
the exploding Asian market." More than 22 million Koreans go online every day
with 57 percent of those regularly visiting gaming sites, according to NetValue
Korea, which monitors four Asian markets, including Korea. EverQuest continues
to grow with top-selling expansions The Ruins of Kunark and The Scars of Velious
and most recently, EverQuest: The Shadows of
Luclin(tm) with new player features and
improved graphics, EverQuest: The Shadows of Luclin is the latest and most
extensive expansion pack yet offered. During peak periods, more than 98,000
adventurers and dragon slayers have explored the world of Norrath
simultaneously. EverQuest currently has more than 410,000 subscribers. Sony
Online Entertainment Inc. (SOE), the online gaming division of Sony Pictures
Digital Entertainment, is a worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online
gaming. Headquartered in San Diego, California, SOE develops, publishes and
distributes entertainment for the PC and online markets. With more than 11
million registered users, SOE’s award-winning website, The Station(r) (<http://www.station.com>)
hosts a variety of entertaining games and player communities spanning all
genres. In addition to blockbuster hits EverQuest(r) and Jeopardy! Online, SOE
has an array of cutting-edge online games in development such as PlanetSide(tm),
Star Wars Galaxies and Sovereign.
NCsoft, headquartered in Seoul, South Korea,
is the world’s largest independent online game company. Established in 1997 as a
systems integration company, NCsoft leapt forward to become the world’s leading
online game software company. In Korea, its blockbuster hit game Lineage
commands a 47% market share and attracts the greatest number of concurrent users
in the world. Currently there are more than four million active subscribers
playing Lineage worldwide. Currently NCsoft has offices in the United States,
Japan, Hong Kong, and Korea and has active Lineage service in those areas as
well as Taiwan. More information about NCsoft Korea is available at <http://www.ncsoft.co.kr/default_e.htm>.
