Sony Online Entertainment and Future Network USA Join Forces to Launch Sony Online Entertainment Worlds Magazine

Sony Online Entertainment Inc. (SOE), a worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online (MMO) gaming, today announced that it is working with Future Network USA, a division of UK-based Future Network, plc [FNET], and publishers of PC Gamer magazine and PSM: 100% Independent PlayStation 2 Magazine, to create Sony Online Entertainment Worlds, a limited collector's edition magazine. Sony Online Entertainment Worlds will offer comprehensive coverage of all of Sony Online Entertainment's games. Sony Online Entertainment Worlds is scheduled to ship this October.

"With more than one million people playing our games, our official magazine draws our different game communities together and provides another level of communication with our players," said John Smedley, president, Sony Online Entertainment. "Sony Online Entertainment Worlds is tailored to the unique needs of our player base and offers tangible in-depth coverage that will not be available anywhere else."

Sony Online Entertainment Worlds will be the premier magazine for the players of SOE's suite of top-notch games. Every game that SOE develops -- from EverQuest® to PlanetSide® and everything in between -- will be covered. The magazine will be comprised of previews and extended features of new games, inside information on live titles, interviews with key members of the game teams, community-related pieces on top guilds, fansites and players, regular columns and the type of news and information relevant to SOE players that would not see print in any other type of publication. The magazine is being designed and created by Future Network USA, publisher of PC Gamer, PSM and many other market-leading interactive entertainment, technology and music magazines.

Players will have the opportunity to order the magazine either through some of SOE's games or via a separate website, www.soeworlds.com. This issue will be a special collector's edition with a limited print run. Pre-orders for Sony Online Entertainment Worlds are scheduled to begin in September for $4.99.

For more information on Sony Online Entertainment Worlds, please visit http://www.soeworlds.com/.

About Sony Online Entertainment

Sony Online Entertainment Inc. (SOE), a subsidiary of Sony Pictures Digital Inc., is a recognized worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online games, with a subscriber base of over 750,000 active accounts around the globe. SOE creates, develops and provides compelling entertainment for the personal computer, online, game console and wireless markets. Known for its blockbuster franchises, EverQuest® and PlanetSide®, as well as for developing Star Wars Galaxies™: An Empire Divided™, SOE continues to redefine the business of online gaming and the creation of active player communities while introducing new genres on various entertainment platforms. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, with an additional development studio in Austin, TX, SOE has an array of cutting-edge online games in development.

EverQuest is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. SOE, the SOE logo and PlanetSide are registered trademarks of Sony Online Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are properties of their respective owners.

About PSM: 100% Independent PlayStation 2 Magazine

Launched in September 1997, PSM's phenomenal success is a result of the editorial team's unique ability to connect with active PlayStation 2 gamers. PSM is a true advocacy magazine for PlayStation 2 lovers: 100% independence guarantees honesty and ensures credibility. Readers know they can trust PSM's unbiased game coverage to guide their buying decisions, and PSM's honest editorial environment lends credibility to its advertisers.

About PC Gamer Magazine

Launched in May 1994, PC Gamer is the world's best-selling PC games magazine. The magazine has earned this coveted position by hiring hardcore gamers who know what other gamers need to satisfy their enthusiasm. The magazine delivers hard-hitting reviews, winning game strategies, explanations for complex games technology and news about what's next in this rapidly changing arena. Smart, irreverent, and well-connected, PC Gamer not only keeps readers "in the know", but also invites new computer users into the rich and entertaining world of PC games.

About The Future Network plc

The Future Network was founded in the UK in 1985. Today, it publishes over 90 special-interest consumer magazines worldwide, is the world's leading publisher of games magazines and is the fifth largest magazine publisher in the UK. Future employs over 1,000 people in offices in the UK, US, Italy and France. Around 100 international editions of Future's magazines are also published in 31 other countries across the world. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange (symbol FNET).

About Future Network USA

Future Network USA (www.futurenetworkusa.com), formerly Imagine Media, built its success on a strategy of "passion": serving markets where there is a thirst for expert knowledge and advice. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Future Network USA's publications sell in excess of 2.2 million copies per month. Its market-leading titles include PC Gamer, PSM: 100% Independent PlayStation 2 Magazine, Official Xbox Magazine, Mobile PC, Maximum PC, MacAddict, EZ Tech Guides and guitar titles: Guitar World, Guitar World Acoustic (bi-monthly), Guitar World Bass Guitar (semi-annual, bimonthly in 2004), Guitar World Legends (quarterly) and Guitar One.

SOURCE: Sony Online Entertainment

CONTACT: Chris Kramer of Sony Online Entertainment, +1-858-577-3481,
ckramer@soe.sony.com; or Marie Assante of Four Corners Communications,
+1-212-849-8259, assante@four-corners.com, for Sony Online Entertainment

Web site: http://www.futurenetworkusa.com/

Web site: http://www.soeworlds.com/