Quality Scores Jump for EA Sports

Business Wire, Oct 14, 2008

FIFA 09 and NHL 09 Are Highest Rated Sports Games of This Console Generation

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. -- Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced that the critical ratings of EA SPORTS[TM] branded games are tracking at an increase of more than four points* versus last year's games. The scores are according to Metacritic's aggregated review score system on the Xbox 360[R] and PLAYSTATION[R]3 when charting the core EA SPORTS portfolio of annual simulation games. FIFA 09, which launches this week in North America after becoming the fastest-selling FIFA game in the history of the franchise with more than 1.2 million units sold through in Europe in its first week on the market, is tracking at a 90 on the Xbox 360 and an 88 on the PS3.*

"Our laser-focus on innovation is paying off and we've gained a great deal of momentum over the past 12 months," said Peter Moore, President of the EA SPORTS Label. "EA SPORTS has delivered the top two highest-rated sports games of the current console generation in the past month - NHL 09 and FIFA 09. Critics are taking notice of the innovation we're delivering to capture our core audience and captivate the masses with more approachable gameplay."

EA SPORTS is seeing this momentum across the board, having delivered five of the top rated games on the market. NHL[R] 09, FIFA 09, Madden NFL 09, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR[R] 09 and NCAA[R] Football 09 have all landed near the top of the review score charts with ratings of 81 or better. Additionally, EA SPORTS continues to evolve, with the introduction of the EA SPORTS All-Play initiative to develop games with unique modes, unique presentation, unique controls and unique packaging designed specifically for the Wii[TM]. FIFA Soccer 09 All-Play, Madden NFL 09 All-Play and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 09 All-Play are three of the highest-rated Wii games available, with all three landing in the top 8 on Metacritic's "Recent Releases" chart.

EA SPORTS[TM] is the leading interactive sports software brand in the world, with top-selling titles and franchises including Madden NFL football, FIFA Soccer, NHL[R] hockey, NBA LIVE basketball, NCAA[R] Football, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR[R] and NASCAR[R] racing.

*Based on Metacritic data

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTS(TM), EA(TM), EA SPORTS Freestyle(TM) and POGO(TM). In fiscal 2008, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $3.67 billion and had 27 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 SPORTS Freestyle and POGO are trademarks ore registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Madden, NFL, NHL, NBA, NASCAR, Tiger Woods, PGA TOUR and FIFA are trademarks of their respective owners and used with permission. "PlayStation" and "PLAYSTATION" are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Xbox, and Xbox 360 are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies and used with permission. Wii is a trademark of Nintendo. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.