Blizzard Entertainment and Knowledge Adventure Named `Multimedia Company of the Year' At 1999 Southern California Software Industry Awards

Business Wire, Oct 29, 1999

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 29, 1999--

Torrance-based Havas Interactive, the largest Southern California-based software company and the world's leading producer of entertainment and educational software, last night was awarded top honors at this year's sixth annual Software Industry Awards program, hosted by the Software Council of Southern California.

Havas Interactive's Irvine-based Blizzard Entertainment(R) and Torrance-based Knowledge Adventure(R) tied for the prestigious "Multimedia Company of the Year" interactive achievement award.

Blizzard (www.blizzard.com) captured the award for its blockbuster hit StarCraft(TM), which was the company's biggest launch of a game ever, with more than 2 million copies being sold worldwide. The game is Blizzard's third consecutive No. 1-selling game and was named the best-selling game of 1998 by PC Data.

Knowledge Adventure (www.knowledgeadventure.com) earned the honor for its groundbreaking, critically acclaimed JumpStart Learning System(TM), which has been the No. 1 educational software brand for the past three years, with more than 6 million copies sold nationwide(a).

Said Bill Manassero, executive director for the Software Council of Southern California, "Southern California is booming as a global software and Internet center, and includes more than 5,000 companies that combined employ several thousand employees. This awards program helps spotlight local companies driving the multimedia industry."

Added Hubert Joly, CEO of Havas Interactive, "PC Data statistics confirm Havas Interactive's leadership positions in the entertainment and education categories. These prestigious industry awards further illustrate our commitment to creating the highest-quality software for children and adults. We are honored to receive this recognition from the Software Council of Southern California, and fully appreciate their efforts to foster the growth and success of the Southland's technology community."

Havas Interactive (www.havasinteractive.com), a global leader in interactive content, is the largest publisher of entertainment software and the second largest publisher of educational software in the world. Havas Interactive is a subsidiary of the French publishing house Havas, which is a division of Vivendi, S.A.

The Software Council of Southern California, based in Torrance, is a non-profit, membership-only trade association composed o310/328-0043 or visit info@scsc.org.

(a) PC Data, Jan. 1996 - June 1999 dollar and unit sales