eGames
Launches Social Game Initiative in Brazil
LANGHORNE,
Pa., December 10, 2009 - Casual games publisher and developer eGames, Inc.
(Pink Sheets: EGAM) announced today that it has started development on a game
for release on social networking websites, starting
with the largest social network in Brazil, Orkut®,
the free-access social networking service owned and
operated by Google. The game is expected to be ready for release as early as February,
2010, with plans to integrate expansion packs, sale of virtual game enhancements and user-suggested
improvements, as well as additional game titles, in the months following
release.
“We
are excited to bring new versions of our most popular game titles to the social
networking arena,” said eGames Vice President, Sales and Marketing Rich
Siporin. “Our games, including Burger
Island, Satisfashion, Purrfect Pet Shop, and Puzzle City, are ideally suited
for the social network environment, as well as the microtransaction monetization
strategies that have proven successful on social networks to date.”
“Our
plan to launch social games in the Brazilian social network market will put us
in the forefront of development of the social game market in that region,”
Siporin continued. “Brazil has fared
much better than other regions of the world during the worldwide economic
crisis, and it is also a region which is projected to continue developing very
rapidly. Today the substantial majority of
Brazilian Internet users are also Orkut users, with millions of monthly active
users in Brazil. Once we have
established our presence in Brazil, our plan is to rapidly expand to other
Latin American countries. We first
established developer relationships in Brazil beginning in early 2006 and we’ve
evolved those relationships to a stage where we would like to establish a
broader business presence in the region. This venture appears to be the ideal
opportunity.”
“Our
games will be developed for the social networks using OpenSocial®, which is a set of common application programming interfaces (APIs)
for web-based
social network applications, developed by Google along with MySpace®
and other social networks. OpenSocial
applications can be easily deployed to many social networks including hi5®,
Yahoo! ®, MySpace, Ning®, Friendster®, Plaxo®, and eventually Facebook®.”
About eGames, Inc.
eGames, Inc., headquartered in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, develops and
publishes casual games for the PC, Nintendo DS and Wii, iPhone, and the
Internet including The Dracula Files,
Burger Island®, Burger Island 2: The Missing Ingredient, Defender of the Crown:
Heroes Live Forever®, Purrfect Pet
Shop®, Satisfashion®, Puzzle City® and more. Additional information
regarding eGames, Inc. can be found at http://www.egames.com.
Orkut and OpenSocial are registered trademarks of Google, Inc. All other
trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Forward-Looking
Statement Safe Harbor
This press release contains certain forward-looking
statements, including without limitation, statements regarding the launch of an
eGames title onto social networking websites, the anticipated timing of such
release, and the expected game enhancements to follow; the suitability of our
games for social networking sites; the anticipation that our relationships with
Brazilian businesses provides an opportunity for a broader business presence in
the region; and the ease with which
games developed using the OpenSocial interface can be deployed to many social
networks. eGames cautions readers that the
risks and uncertainties that may affect our future results and performance
include, but are not limited to: continued overall economic problems in the
United States and around the world that negatively affect consumer spending and
retail markets; the potential failure of business partners with which we do
business, including distributors, retailers, licensees and publishers; delays
in the development and release of future titles; inability to fund continued
development of future titles; technical and other issues that may delay or halt
development of future titles; the failure of new titles to be adopted by users;
our inability to enter into and maintain commercially successful publishing,
licensing and distribution relationships; and an increase in competition; as
well as the risks and uncertainties discussed under the heading "Factors
Affecting Future Performance" in our Annual Report for the fiscal year
ended June 30, 2009 as posted on the Company’s website and on www.pinksheets.com.
eGames Contact:
eGames, Inc.
Jerry Klein, President and CEO
(215) 750-6606 (Ext. 118)
eGames, Inc.
Rich Siporin, Vice President Sales and
Marketing
(215) 750-6606 (Ext. 129)