FIFA, Electronic Arts and PlayStation Announce 2010 Season of FIFA Interactive World Cup

FIFA, the world’s governing body of soccer, Electronic Arts Inc (NASDAQ:ERTS) and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) today announced the new season of the FIFA Interactive World Cup (FIWC), the world’s only official FIFA global soccer gaming competition. The FIWC is a season-long tournament mirroring the real world of soccer in which competitors from all around the world participate playing EA SPORTS™ FIFA Soccer 10 on PlayStation®3 (PS3™).

This year marks the sixth FIWC season, which will kick off today inside EA SPORTS FIFA Soccer 10. Players will be able to compete for their spot in the Grand Final at one of 10 FIWC Live Qualifier Events across the globe, taking place in Australia, Brazil, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, Poland, Russia, South Africa and the UK, or by playing online. For the first time in the tournament’s history, the online competition of the FIWC via PlayStation®Network will be split into two seasons. Season one starts with the launch of FIFA Soccer 10 on October 2 in Europe and concludes on December 18, 2009. The ten best players of season one from across the FIFA confederations will go through to the Grand Final, which will take place at Port Olympic in Barcelona on May 1, 2010*. Players who didn’t make it during season one have another shot at their spot in the Grand Final in season two, which kicks off on January 4, 2010 and concludes on March 31, 2010. Registration for participating in the online leg of the FIWC 10 tournament will take place directly inside the retail version of FIFA Soccer 10 on PS3 from October 2 across Europe and Asia and from October 20 in North America.

Alongside the 2009 FIWC champion, Bruce Grannec from France, the 31 finalists will compete to be crowned FIFA Interactive World Champion of the Year, rewarded with an invitation to the FIFA World Player Gala along with a USD 20,000 cash prize. The runner up will receive USD 5,000, while the player coming third will be awarded USD 1,000.

"More than 500,000 players vied for a spot in the Grand Final at last year’s FIFA Interactive World Cup. This makes it the FIFA tournament with the most competitors,” highlights Chuck Blazer, member of the FIFA Executive Committee and patron of the FIFA Interactive World Cup (FIWC). "The FIWC is becoming more and more popular among all age groups and the great thing is that everybody can participate. Players can face each other whenever they want and wherever they are – this is truly unique.”

"With the real life season already underway, FIFA fans the world over are itching to show off their skills in this year’s FIFA Interactive World Cup tournament and they won’t be disappointed,” said Matt Bilbey, VP Marketing, EA SPORTS. "The FIFA development team in Vancouver have worked incredibly hard to deliver players the most authentic soccer gaming experience ever with FIFA Soccer 10. With the game out now, we’re excited for players around the world to start their journey to the top of the FIFA Interactive World Cup league on the PlayStation 3.”

”The FIFA Interactive World Cup 2009 was a truly incredible tournament, with over half a million people competing, many of which via PlayStation Network,” said Darren Carter, VP for Brand and Consumer Marketing, SCEE. "The FIWC is a great example of what can happen when you take one of the world’s best selling games, mix it together with the world’s favourite games console, and open it up to the community. We are very excited about this year’s tournament and wish everybody competing the best of luck.”

EA SPORTS™ FIFA Soccer 10 for the PlayStation®3 is powered with the first-ever true 360° dribbling system that gives players finer control of the ball, enabling them to find spaces between defenders that previously were not possible. Additionally the new Skilled Dribbling – an all new animation wrapping technology – provides unprecedented control. The all-new Virtual Pro will let players live out their fantasy of playing as a professional player. By using the Game Face function, they can put themselves into the game and embark on a career with more than 200 accomplishments to master across all games modes. Based on consumer feedback from more than 400 million online games played, FIFA Soccer 10 refines an already potent game engine, combined with authentic club and league licenses, to continue to set the benchmark as the most complete simulation of soccer which also features an completely overhauled Manager Mode with more than 50 major improvements, a New Practice Arena and Customisable Set Pieces.

Details about the live qualifier events will be made available over the coming weeks at www.FIFA.com/FIWC, so check in regularly to keep your fingers on the pulse of the FIFA Interactive World Cup 2010.

* For full FIWC 2010 tournament terms & conditions, please see www.fifa.com/fiwc

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. FIFA 10 is an official licensed product. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

About Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE), based in London, is responsible for the distribution, marketing and sales of PLAYSTATION®3, PlayStation®2, PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable) and PLAYSTATION®Network software and hardware in 99 territories across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Oceania. SCEE also develops, publishes, markets and distributes entertainment software for these formats, and manages the third party licensing programs for the formats in these territories. Since the launch of PLAYSTATION 3 in November 2006, over 14.4 million units have been sold globally and continue to be sold at a record level. Maintaining its position as one of the most successful consumer electronic products in history, PlayStation 2 has sold over 131.3 million systems worldwide. Since its launch at the end of 2004, over 41.3 million PSPs have been sold globally, highlighting the importance of the portable entertainment market. With the huge increase in interest and accessibility of network applications and network gaming, over 10 million people have registered to the PLAYSTATION Network, the free-to-access interactive environment, and 200 million items have been downloaded.

More information about PlayStation products can be found at www.playstation.com or visit the Virtual Press Office at www.scee.presscentre.com.

PlayStation, PLAYSTATION, PSP and the PlayStation logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

About FIFA

For more than 100 years, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, founded on 21 May 1904 in Paris and better known as FIFA, has continued to provide the essential leadership role to the international football family. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, the eighth FIFA President, Joseph S. Blatter guides the organisation today with a commitment to the evolution of FIFA as a modern and dynamic association. The basis of the world’s football family is formed by FIFA’s members. From the founding seven, the family has today grown to 208 affiliated football associations, also organised into six confederations spanning the globe.

FIFA’s worldwide activities go well beyond its various competitions, such as the world’s biggest single-sport event, the FIFA World Cup™. In football development projects such as the FIFA GOAL Programme as well as in corporate social responsibility activities (including the Football for Hope movement to support through football social and human development) FIFA makes material, financial and promotional contributions to develop the game and make the world a better place. For the Game. For the World. To find out more about FIFA and its initiatives please check out www.FIFA.com.