PC’s Most Popular Game Franchise Goes Digital at Direct2Drive.com

BRISBANE, Calif., June 2 /PRNewswire/ — Direct2Drive, IGN Entertainment’s digital download store, today announced that The Sims(TM) 3 from Electronic Arts Inc. (Nasdaq: ERTS) is now available for download in North America on Direct2Drive (http://www.direct2drive.com) and will soon be available for download in Europe on Direct2Drive UK (http://www.direct2drive.co.uk). The Sims 3 joins a broad range of other Electronic Arts titles such as Spore(TM), Warhammer(R) Online: Age of Reckoning(R), Command & Conquer(TM) Red Alert(TM) 3, Mirror’s Edge(TM) and The Lord of the Rings: Conquest(TM), which are already available for purchase and download on the site.

Making its long-awaited debut today both in stores and online, The Sims 3 is the highly-anticipated third installment of the #1 best selling PC franchise in the world. In The Sims 3 players will be able to create more than a million completely unique Sims personalities, influence characters’ behaviors, alter their body shapes and immerse them in a thriving, seamless neighborhood just outside their door. With all-new quick challenges and rewarding game play, The Sims 3 will inspire players with endless creative possibilities and unexpected moments of mischief and surprise.

“More and more consumers are starting to adopt digital distribution for purchasing games, and many of our fans have shared with us that they appreciate the accessibility of having EA’s games on Direct2Drive,” said Tom Cipolla, EA’s General Manager of North American Publishing. “The remarkable success of The Sims franchise is poised to reach new heights with the release of its third installment, and we believe that it’s availability on D2D will help expand the fan base for this franchise even further.”

“EA is a great partner and we’re excited to add the highly-anticipated The Sims 3 to Direct2Drive’s growing library of leading PC game titles,” said Sutton Trout, VP of Digital Content for IGN Entertainment. “With Direct2Dirve, we’re offering gamers an easy and safe way to find and buy many of the most popular PC games from the world’s leading publishers – and when it comes to popular PC titles, nobody beats The Sims.”

Since the site’s launch in October 2004, more than one million games have been downloaded on Direct2Drive, and the site enables gamers to conveniently purchase, download and play the latest PC games and expansion packs from the world’s top publishers. The site features titles from the industry’s top publishers including EA, Activision, Blizzard Entertainment, Rockstar Games and THQ, underscoring the growing investment the industry’s top publishers are making in digital delivery.

ABOUT DIRECT2DRIVE

Direct2Drive (D2D) is IGN Entertainment’s digital download store (http://www.direct2drive.com and http://www.direct2drive.co.uk). Launched in October 2004, D2D allows consumers to conveniently purchase and download the latest premium PC games, comics and anime titles directly from the Web to their desktops. D2D’s AAA roster of leading game publishers includes Atari, Activision, Blizzard Entertainment, Electronic Arts, NCsoft, Rockstar Games, SEGA, Sony Online Entertainment, THQ, 2K Games, Ubisoft and Vivendi Universal Games.

ABOUT ELECTRONIC ARTS

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is a leading global interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, wireless devices and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA(TM), EA SPORTS(TM), EA Mobile(TM) and POGO(TM). In fiscal 2009, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $4.2 billion and had 31 titles that sold more than one million copies. 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.

EA, EA SPORTS, EA Mobile and POGO are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.