GameSpy Extends Online Gaming Play with Enhanced Persistent Storage System; System Empowers Players to View, Share and Compare Best Game Experiences, Saved Games, Screenshots and Game Movies Via GameSpy Arena

Business Wire, March 21, 2006

BRISBANE, Calif. -- IGN Entertainment's GameSpy division, the supplier of multiplayer technology used in more than 300 PC, PlayStation(R)2, PlayStation(R)Portable and Nintendo DS(TM) game titles, has created a new Enhanced Persistent Storage system, a customizable service that allows publishers and developers to store extensive game data such as saved games, screenshots, player statistics and in-game movies. Players can then share and distribute their own data online or in GameSpy Arena for other players to see, giving them full ammunition for bragging rights.

Key components of online gaming are community and competition. Game consumers today want to save and share "game created" content, extend their personal involvement with the games they play and interact with other game players even when they are not actively playing. By incorporating the Enhanced Persistent Storage system within a game, developers enable players to do just that.

The new Enhanced Persistent Storage system empowers developers to go beyond saving game statistics and player profiles. Now developers can offer game enthusiasts the ability to save screenshots of the best in-game moments, add a patch or insignia of their clan, replay their most gruesome car crashes or relive spectacular battles and share those experiences with others by posting them online or in the GameSpy Arena for everyone else to view. Acting as an "online memory card," the system also allows players to go to any computer, log in and pick up as if they were still on their home computer.

GameSpy offloads the need for developers and publishers to create and maintain a costly backend network of systems to support by hosting the GameSpy Enhanced Persistent Storage system in IGN's world-class datacenters that can handle the demands of most popular titles.

"Gamers want to continually show their friends just how good they are. Enhanced Persistent Storage allows them to show off their best in-game moments and most vicious victories," said Drew Curby of IGN Entertainment's GameSpy Division. "By letting players save and share games, screenshots, player statistics and in-game movies, the system enhances player's experience, extends their personal involvement with their games and the game's life."

Using GameSpy Persistent Storage system gives developers the access to the following features:

--Storage of binary and ASCII data associated with a player, team, clan or other "entity"

--Straightforward API for manipulating data elements of almost any size.

--All data stored is browseable, searchable and ratable by end users and allows for creation of "hall of fame" style media galleries.

--Robust, scalable data distribution mechanism allows for near limitless storage space.

--Enables reliable delivery of media within each game, including pause and resume capabilities.

--Web-based administration for system set-up, configuration of data types, usage thresholds, business rules and access controls.

--Web-based reporting of storage space, bandwidth used, transactions and other metrics per-game and per-player.

GameSpy's Enhanced Persistence Storage software will be available as part of the Premium Software Suite, beginning in April 2006 at no additional cost to GameSpy's licensed developers.

About IGN Entertainment

IGN Entertainment, a unit of Fox Interactive Media, Inc., is a leading Internet media and services provider focused on the videogame and entertainment enthusiast markets. Collectively, IGN's properties reached more than 33 million unique users worldwide in the month of January 2006, according to Internet audience measurement firm comScore Media Metrix(a). IGN's network of videogame-related properties (IGN.com, GameSpy, FilePlanet, TeamXbox, Direct2Drive and others), is the web's number one videogame information destination and attracts one of the largest concentrated audiences of young males on the Internet. IGN also owns and operates the popular movie-related website, Rotten Tomatoes and one of the leading male lifestyle websites, AskMen.com. In addition, IGN provides technology for online game play in videogames. IGN is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, with offices throughout the U.S. and in Montreal.

About IGN Entertainment's GameSpy Division

GameSpy is the premiere provider of online gaming infrastructure and technologies used in over 300 PC, PlayStation(R)2, PlayStation(R)Portable and Nintendo DS(TM) game titles. From matchmaking and networking to revenue enhancing subscription-based play, GameSpy products and services allow publishers to easily enhance game functionality and reduce development time. GameSpy's products and services have become the industry standard in multiplayer gaming, back-end systems/infrastructure and cross-platform developer tools for the $8-billion interactive entertainment industry. For more information on GameSpy technologies, please visit www.gamespy.net.

(a) comScore Media Metrix, January 2006 Worldwide data. Worldwide data cited herein represent an aggregate of 32 countries reported by comScore Media Metrix on a monthly basis.