Sony Online Entertainment and Planetwide Games Join Forces to Bring Innovative New Service to Online Gamers

Sony Online Entertainment (SOE), a global leader in the online games industry, and Planetwide Games announced today that a web version of Planetwide's Comic Book Creator™ is under development for subscribers of SOE's Station Players™ service. Additionally, the Comic Book Creator software and special SOE game-themed art packs will soon be available for digital purchase from SOE. The web version is expected to be added to Station Players this fall, while the digital version is expected to be available for purchase through SOE's Station.com Store this summer.

"SOE continues to offer industry-leading innovations in the realm of ancillary service offerings for online game subscribers," said John Smedley, president, Sony Online Entertainment. "We're always looking for unique ways to both enrich the online gaming experience as well as offer our subscribers services that extend beyond our game worlds. Comic Book Creator provides additional value for our online communities with its unique features, allowing players to strengthen their connection to their avatars and social groups in a whole new way."

"We see this strategic relationship with Sony Online Entertainment as the innovative way to empower video gamers, who live through their virtual online identities and who want to share their heroic feats and epic victories from their online gameplay," said Kevin Donovan, president of Planetwide Games. "What better way to extend some of the industry's greatest games to this incredibly dynamic community, than to join forces with SOE, a company with a stellar reputation for quality interactive entertainment, who continues to lead this exceptional growth."

Comic Book Creator allows consumers to take game screenshots, DVD movies, digital photos or art assets and create personalized comic books and comic strips. Fans of Sony Online Entertainment's highly acclaimed Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) games EverQuest®, EverQuest® II and PlanetSide® will soon be able to share their online experiences with fellow guild members and friends by creating personalized digital comic books starring their online avatars using Comic Book Creator.

SOE has entered into a licensing agreement with Planetwide Games that will make Comic Book Creator available to SOE's hundreds of thousands of subscribers. Planetwide Games and SOE are developing a web-enabled version of Comic Book Creator for subscribers of the Station Players service. This new web version will be available to SOE players, on an exclusive basis, for one year after commercial release. Station Players is the official online service that connects players to the EverQuest and EverQuest II communities. This web-based suite offers an array of features that give players incredible access to their characters and guilds by merging the game world with the world wide web. Station Players features include Guild web sites and tools, character profiles, personal images, screen shot galleries, leader boards and advanced game data.

The agreement also allows SOE to bundle their MMO games with Comic Book Creator software, as well as sell a downloadable version through the Station.com Store. These versions of Comic Book Creator will include customizable digital art assets from SOE games. Supplementary art packs themed around SOE games will be available for separate purchase.

For more information on the Station Players service, visit www.stationplayers.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 hundreds of thousands of subscribers 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 and hit titles including EverQuest®, EverQuest® II, Champions of Norrath®, Untold Legends™, 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 additional development studios in Austin, TX, Seattle, WA, and Taiwan, 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. Untold Legends is a trademark of Sony Online Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are properties of their respective owners.

About Planetwide Games

Based in Orange County, CA, Planetwide Games, Inc. is a provider of innovative games and application software. The Company's games and applications easily integrate with portals and major game developers, or can be sold separately through digital downloads and box sales at retail locations. Planetwide Games develops proprietary online technology and software products and is building a worldwide network of affiliates. Visit http://www.planetwidegames.com/, http://www.mycomicbookcreator.com/ and http://www.comicbooksociety.net/.

Comic Book Creator is a registered trademark of Planetwide Games, Inc. The Comic Book Creator logo and Planetwide Games logo are registered trademarks of Planetwide Games, Inc.

SOURCE: Sony Online Entertainment

CONTACT: Chris Kramer of Sony Online Entertainment, +1-858-577-3481,
ckramer@soe.sony.com; or Devin Parr of Edelman, +1-323-202-1072,
devin.parr@edelman.com, for Sony Online Entertainment

Web site: http://www.comicbooksociety.net/

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

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

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