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Sony Online Ent. Acquires Worlds Apart Prods. Assets

Sony Online Ent. has acquired key assets of Worlds Apart Prods., a premier independent developer of online trading card games. Key employees of Worlds Apart will form the core of the new SOE-Denver, integrating into SOE's worldwide group of studios stretching from San Diego to Seattle and Austin to Taiwan. The acquisition will strengthen SOE's position as a leader in the online gaming space by extending the depth of its gaming offerings.

"This is a way to expand SOE's business into a very attractive market that is consistently growing at a fast rate," said John Smedley, president, Sony Online Ent. "With this acquisition, we've expanded the range of online games that SOE can offer, as well as offering entirely new play mechanics and activities that could be built into both current and future titles."

"The team here in Denver couldn't be more pleased to become part of the Sony family," said Scott Martins, director of development, SOE-Denver. "We're really looking forward to building on the synergies between our team's technology and design experience and SOE's properties and infrastructure."

Denver-based Worlds Apart Prods. has been building and operating online games for 10 years. Specializing in online digital property games and role-playing games, Worlds Apart has a history of steady growth and successful, well-designed game titles that offer deep gameplay and attract strong player communities. Worlds Apart's STAR CHAMBER was named in "Computer Game Magazines Top 10 Computer Games for 2005," as well as "Best Independent Game" of 2005.

The company's Collect! Trade! Play! (CTP) Platform is a cost-effective infrastructure for the development of online collectible-object based games. It offers a modular, data-driven development and prototyping environment, as well as rapid time-to-market for full commercial releases. Worlds Apart uses CTP as the foundation for the translation of paper trading card games to online form, as well as for the creation of original properties.

SOE-Denver's core technologies can integrate board or card games into existing SOE online games, as well as create new games altogether. SOE live game development teams will begin meeting with SOE-Denver to be introduced to their technology and explore ways to integrate this valuable resource into SOE games. The Worlds Apart Prods. brand may continue to be utilized by SOE in future releases.

Sony Online Ent. (SOE, www.soe.sony.com), a subsidiary of Sony Pictures Digital Inc., is a recognized worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online games, with hundreds of thousands of subscribers around the globe. SOE creates, develops and provides entertainment for the personal computer, online, game console and wireless markets. SOE is headquartered in San Diego, with additional development studios in Austin, Denver, Seattle and Taiwan.

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