FORTUNE LEAGUE BRINGS

EVERQUEST® II ADVENTURES TO FACEBOOK®



Players Earn EQII in-game rewards while playing Facebook’s newest competitive strategy game



LOS ANGELES, CALIF. – January 7, 2011 –Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) and Fastpoint Games, a developer of live, data-driven games, today announced the alpha launch of Fortune League (http://apps.facebook.com/fortuneleague/), a fully integrated Facebook game. Fortune League allows EverQuest® II (EQII) fans and players to play a casual game through Facebook that players can enjoy and earn rewards for use inside of EQII. The introduction of Fortune League continues SOE’s tradition as an industry leader in online social gaming, bringing a new type of fully integrated MMO title to Facebook; this also marks its fifth release on the platform.



“Fortune League invites players to experience a casual strategy game on Facebook based on the world of EverQuest II while offering the opportunity to reap in-game rewards,” said Dave Georgeson, producer of EverQuest II. “It’s a great way for Facebook users to play a casual game with exciting quests, and even provides the ability to share achievements with their Facebook friends.”



Fortune League is a collaborative effort between SOE’s San Diego studio and Los Angeles-based Fastpoint Games. The social media strategy game brings players the lore and adventure of EQII in real time by integrating performance data such as damages, deaths and healings directly from the MMO environment and utilizes it to form Hero Stats. Fortune League also rewards players’ abilities to assess quests, hero performance, situational threats and other players’ actions in a live trade market and compensates leaders with points, cosmetic upgrades and prizes that can be used in the free-to-play and subscription versions of EQII.



“Sony Online Entertainment is ahead of the curve with the introduction of their premiere EverQuest II franchise to Facebook users,” said Kelly Perdew, CEO of Fastpoint Games. “We worked closely with the SOE team to complement their popular MMO title in a unique, brand-relevant way onto the Facebook platform. Fortune League aims to provide existing players with a fun, new way of engaging with the depth and adventure of EQII, in short, snackable sessions, while also introducing new players and creating a new revenue source for the franchise.”



Be among the first to play the alpha version of Fortune League today at: http://apps.facebook.com/fortuneleague/



About Sony Online Entertainment
Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) is a recognized worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online games, with hundreds of thousands of subscribers around the globe. SOE creates, develops and provides compelling entertainment for the personal computer, online game console and wireless devices. Known for its blockbuster franchises and hit titles including EverQuest®, EverQuest® II, Champions of Norrath®, Untold Legends™, PlanetSide®, and Star Wars Galaxies, as well as the recent kids’ phenomenon Free Realms™, SOE continues to redefine the business of online gaming and the creation of active player communities while introducing new genres on all entertainment platforms. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, with additional development studios in Austin, TX, Seattle, WA, Denver, CO, and Tucson, AZ, SOE has an array of cutting-edge games in development across various platforms and genres for audiences of all ages.



SOE, the SOE logo, EverQuest and PlanetSide are registered trademarks and Untold Legends and Legends of Norrath are trademarks of Sony Online Entertainment LLC. All other trademarks and trade names are properties of their respective owners.



About Fastpoint Games

Fastpoint Games is a leading developer of live data-driven games for the fortune 500 brand set. The company’s award-winning, highly scalable platform and games-as-a-service model enable marquee brands such as Us Weekly, Sports Illustrated, Los Angeles Times, Go Daddy and MySpace to provide their fans compelling games across their channels quickly and with minimal resources. Data-driven games invest users in client content and services by making that content central to the entertainment experience and applying motivating game mechanics to engage, reward and monetize their users. Fastpoint Games is privately held and based in Los Angeles, Calif. Investors include Allen & Co., Mission Ventures, DFJ Dragon and Sports Capital Partners Worldwide.



For more information about Fastpoint Games visit www.fastpointgames.com or follow us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fastpoint-Games/115877845140808 and Twitter http://www.twitter.com/fastpointgames.

An interesting development, I wonder if this is where the marketting/advertising budget SmokeJumper spoke about is going? As a purely advertising effort I'd rate it much higher then some side adverts on a webpage, as for the personal information bit - its a non-issue, all facebook games need to access it.

As for the adverts they've done so far they've pretty feeble, the problem I have with it "free to play" isn't a selling point when there are 1001 2 bit Chinese MMO's out there sporting the same feature, often advertised with nice artwork or just a large pair of breasts....

I think DDO sucked out all the easy money from the free to play move, everyone else is going to find it a crowded marketplace.

I'm still mystified as to what SOE's grand plan is to sell any of their products, under Brenlo there was a push to get the retail channels working again, we even had international distributors lined up with contracts due to be signed - then nothing.

Got a feeling that with Brenlo going there was a big sea change there, although with DCUO they've got to have some route for the box sales. But I also think that they are severely underestimated what great advertising a games box on a shelf is, anyone can hire a good artist to draw an attractive scene for a web ad, but a box in a store says to me this game is in a different league.