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iEntertainment Network Releases HelbreathUSA, Role Playing Game, to US Market; Over 125,000 Players Already Playing This Game Online

Business Wire, Jan 22, 2003

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

CARY, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 22, 2003

iEntertainment Network (OTC BB: IENT), award-winning developer of the popular Warbirds TotalSim series, announced today the launch of its highly anticipated HelbreathUSA(R) role-playing game.

Helbreath USA Online is the US version of the well-received massively multiplayer role playing game developed by Korea's Siementech Corporation. The Helbreath International game already has over 125,000 dedicated North American players, who currently play on servers in Korea.

Helbreath USA Online represents iEntertainment Network's entry in the role-playing game arena, and signals a new era for HelBreath as a major US based RPG. Helbreath meets the US market with an impressive track record in Asia and Europe, boasting over 1.2 million player accounts while supporting over 10,000 simultaneous players. "With 10s of 1000s of players already familiar and currently playing Helbreath from North America, the opening of servers in the United States will allow many of these players to avoid the latency, language, and slow play experienced when playing off Korean servers. We expect many of these players to come play on the IENT Servers," said JW "Wild Bill" Stealey, CEO and Chairman, iEntertainment Network. "Helbreath has the capacity to significantly increase our online revenue in the near term.

"HelBreath has been a major hit abroad since its inception in 1999, and will continue to grow as a mainstream role playing game. The key for us is to leverage our online publishing and community development in building a strong foundational community around Helbreath in the United States. We also plan to publish a retail version of Helbreath through our exclusive distributor, Activision for sale in major software stores in the United States."

Helbreath is a major online RPG game like EverQuest, Dark Ages of Camelot, and Asheron's call. These games generate significantly more than 100,000 players paying monthly charges in excess of $9 per month. Each of these games is very successful and commands a large and dedicated audience producing significant revenues.

In Helbreath, players are combatants in the religious war of Equilibrium(R). Equilibrium is separated into two nations - Elvine(R) and Aresden(R), which serve the Gods Eldiniel(R) and Aresien(R), respectively. As players enter the game, they can choose to be a free traveler with no allegiance to either side. But as players accumulate more playing time, they must choose which land to defend with their beliefs, power, magic and abilities.

At its core, HelBreath is an interactive multi-player RPG that combines one-on-one battle with massive warfare strategies, and team play. Helbreath has been able to engage players from many nationalities by integrating a chat engine capable of supporting multiple languages into the game. "Communication is an integral part of the Helbreath experience and players are encouraged to create teams to defeat enemies and mythical creatures," said Chris Wall, Chief Technology Director, iEntertainment Network. "One of the unique team play features of Helbreath is its regularly scheduled Battle Crusade Mode which pits the nations against one another in all out war."

Through an agreement with Siementech, iEntertainment Network becomes the exclusive distributor and publisher of Helbreath in the United States. Customer service and technical support for Helbreath USA will be provided from IENT's North Carolina offices. You can check out HelbreathUSA by visiting www.helbreathusa.com .

About iEntertainment Network

iEntertainment Network (OTC BB:IENT) (www.ient.com), founded in 1994, became publicly traded on the NASDAQ exchange in 1998 and quickly emerged as a leading provider of online entertainment communities and publisher of core and co-branded gaming content. WarBirds, IEN's premiere massively multiplayer flight simulation software, has won numerous awards around the world for Best Online Simulation Game and attracts players from over 70 countries. A more complete description of WarBirds III and all IENT's Retail products can be found at http://www.ient.com/publishing.php. IENT's Internet online patent, Number: 6,042,477, Minimizing Latency Technology can be found at IENT's corporate website, http://www.IENT.com/.

EverQuest, Asheron's Call, and Dark Ages of Camelot are registered trademarks and copyrights of Sony, Microsoft, and Mythic Entertainment respectively.

Forward Looking Statement for IENT

Statements in this news release pertaining to IEntertainment Network, Inc. are forward-looking statements. Actual results, performance or developments could differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Business Wire
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
 

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