REPEAT/Yahoo! Games Announces Relationship with Microsoft Game Studios; New Relationship Catapults Yahoo! Games on Demand Past 100 Games Mark

Business Wire, Oct 2, 2003

Entertainment Editors/Business Editors/Videogame Writers

REPEATING...inserting ticker symbol

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 2, 2003

Yahoo! Games, the leading online games destination (Nielsen//NetRatings -- August 2003), today announced Microsoft Game Studios, a leading worldwide publisher and developer of games for Windows(R), Xbox(TM) video game system and online platforms, is the newest publisher to contribute titles to Yahoo! Games on Demand (http://gamesondemand.yahoo.com). With this new relationship, more than 100 titles are available to consumers for play on Yahoo! Games on Demand.

"Our relationship with Microsoft Game Studios marks another milestone in Yahoo!'s mission to deliver top quality PC games to millions of online consumers," said Dan Hart, general manager of Yahoo! Games. "This relationship gives Yahoo! Games the ability meet the growing demand for direct rental and streaming play via the Internet, and lets consumers choose from more than 100 PC game titles through Yahoo! Games on Demand."

Yahoo! Games on Demand is a one-stop destination to play a diverse selection of more than 100 popular PC games from leading publishers, giving users a choice of popular new and classic games, in genres ranging from action and strategy to simulation and arcade. Players can sign up for Yahoo! Games on Demand Unlimited monthly or quarterly subscription packages, which enables them to play all subscription games with no time limits.

Fifteen new titles will be added to Yahoo! Games on Demand through this relationship with Microsoft Game Studios. Available titles include: Age of Mythology(R), Combat Flight Simulator(TM) 3, Dungeon Siege, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004, Freelancer(TM), Rise of Nations(TM), and Zoo Tycoon(TM).

About Yahoo! Games

The leading destination for online games and one of the largest game communities on the Internet, Yahoo! Games offers more than 50 free, Java-based games to a worldwide audience of players. In addition, Yahoo! Games offers single-player and multi-player games and downloadable games and demos. Premium service offerings include Yahoo! Games All-Star, providing players with tournaments, game leagues and other customized game-play features and Yahoo! Games on Demand, delivering the ability to rent and play PC games directly on the broadband-connected desktop through a streamed service. Yahoo! Games hosts more than five and a half billion minutes of online game-play per month and continues to be ranked the No. 1 online games site by Nielsen//NetRatings(1).

About Yahoo!

Yahoo! Inc. is a leading provider of comprehensive online products and services to consumers and businesses worldwide. Yahoo! is the No. 1 Internet brand globally and the most trafficked Internet destination worldwide. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., Yahoo!'s global network includes 25 World properties and is available in 13 languages.

About Microsoft Game Studios

Microsoft Game Studios is a leading worldwide publisher and developer of games for Windows, Xbox video game system and online platforms. Comprising a network of top developers, Microsoft Game Studios is committed to creating innovative and diverse games for Windows (http://www.microsoft.com/games/), including such franchises as "Age of Empires(R)," "Flight Simulator" and "Zoo Tycoon(R)"; Xbox (http://www.xbox.com/), including such franchises as "Halo," "Project Gotham Racing(R)" and "NFL Fever"; and Zone.com (http://www.zone.com/), the official games channel for the MSN(R) network and home to such hits as "Bejeweled" and "OutSmart(TM)."

Yahoo! and the Yahoo! logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Yahoo! Inc.

All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

(1) Nielsen//NetRatings MarketView Report, August 2003