It’s Alive! The Sims Comes to Facebook!

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EA Brings World’s Most Popular Life Simulation Game to the World’s Biggest Social Network

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Play with friends, play with life, play with The SimsTM on Facebook! The EA Play Label of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced The Sims Social, a groundbreaking new game that brings one of the world’s most popular gaming franchises to Facebook, the world’s largest social network. The Sims Social invites people to play with life in a whole new way with all of the uniquely playful and creative elements of The Sims and delivers an intuitive entertainment experience to the more than 500 million people on Facebook. Launching globally on Facebook this summer in five languages, The Sims Social allows players anytime, anywhere to create their Sim (characters unique to The Sims), build a bachelor pad or dream house, spark friendships and romances, and have exciting adventures — all with their Facebook friends.

EA has also announced the forthcoming release of a mobile companion app for The Sims Social. Created for the current generation of smart phones, The Sims Social mobile app will enable players to engage with their Sim on the move, taking care of their wants and needs while away from their computers.

“Just like you and me, The Sims is now on Facebook,” said Jeff Karp, Executive Vice President of Play Label. “EA invented people simulation games with The Sims. Over the last decade, The Sims has sold in excess of 140 million units and spawned an active fan community that has grown into the millions. These fans are all enthusiastic, passionate individuals living out their dreams, adventures and fantasies, and expressing their creativity. As The Sims moves to Facebook, their personalities shine through more than ever. The game is alive, brimming with the humor, romance, mischief and creativity that only The Sims can provide.”

The Sims Social is the culmination of a close collaboration between many talented people from The Sims and Playfish studios, leveraging over 10 years of The Sims success in creating hugely popular and engaging experiences with a deep expertise in social gaming.

John Earner, General Manager of Playfish’s London Studio said, “This is the first time such a meaningful entertainment property is coming to Facebook. We are proud that we have combined the best of social game design with the best of The Sims franchise. The Sims was born to be social, and we can now deliver on that. This game will set a new standard for quality and fun on the Facebook platform, and with the mobile companion app sitting alongside, The Sims fans will be able to enjoy playing with life anytime, anywhere.”

The Sims Social is a great addition to the Facebook Platform, as it provides another fun way for people to connect with their friends through an inherently social app,” said Katie Mitic, Director of Platform and Mobile Marketing, Facebook. “What’s social offline should be social online, and The Sims Social brings some of the everyday interactions we have in the real world onto Facebook in a Sims setting.”

The magic of The Sims Social is in the unpredictability of the Sims’ personalities. Sims are little virtual people with their own characters and ambitions — they even have friends. In The Sims Social, players will engage with every aspect of their Sim’s social lives from the intense emotion of a first kiss to the flawless execution of a hilarious prank. Playing with the sweet side of life, The Sims Social will have players helping their neighbors, building friendships, falling in love, kissing or even making woohoo. Those who are more interested in stirring up trouble can pull pranks or sabotage friends, pee on a neighbor’s lawn, become a heartbreaker or even a womanizer. As players’ personalities come through, the Sims’ conduct is wildly diverse making The Sims Social alive like no other game.

Being on Facebook means that players can connect with their real friends inside the game to share their creations and adventures, and even misadventures, of their Sims.

To learn more about The Sims Social before launch, please visit the game’s Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/TheSimsSocial, http://www.facebook.com/ or follow the game on www.twitter.com/TheSimsSocial.

About The Sims

The Sims™ franchise, the groundbreaking game series that allows players to create and live a virtual, simulated life on a computer, celebrated its ten year anniversary in 2010 with an impressive more than 125 million units sold since its launch in February 2000. Now translated into 22 different languages and available in 60 different countries, The Sims series has quickly become a universal gaming and cultural phenomenon. Since its June 2009 launch, The Sims 3 has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide across multiple platforms and was the #1 best-selling PC title for 2009 in North America and Europe. Fan intensity is evidenced through nearly 250 million downloads of player created content including: The Sims characters, houses, stories and more. The Sims 3 community site, www.thesims3.com, welcomes up to seven million unique visitors monthly, handles more than 240 content downloads every minute and more than 3.5 million uploads have been made to date, including 11 movies each hour. The Sims 3 YouTube Channel is within the top 10 most viewed sponsored channels of all time with more than 45 million video views. . The Sims 3 enables anyone to play as they want, whether the player prefers to design houses as a builder, create moments as a storyteller, be mischievous as an experimenter, or fulfill lifetime wishes as an achiever. Visit The Sims 3 official website to see what the players are creating at www.TheSims3.com or the official YouTube Channel for The Sims at http://www.youtube.com/user/TheSims. Join The Sims 3 Facebook or Twitter communities at www.facebook.com/thesims3 and www.twitter.com/thesims3.