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Baldur's Gate Coming to Mobile Phones SAN MATEO, Calif. --(Business Wire)-- May 6, 2004 -- Atari, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATAR), a leader in interactive entertainment, and Sorrent, Inc., a leading creator and global publisher of mobile entertainment, today announced the signing of a multi-year licensing agreement. Atari, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATAR), under license from Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE:HAS), allows Sorrent to develop and publish wireless games based on Baldur's Gate, the popular franchise owned by Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE:HAS)."We're extremely pleased to create and publish Baldur's Gate on mobile phones," said Greg Ballard, president and CEO of Sorrent. "There's already significant anticipation for this game among fans of the series. This agreement further enhances our portfolio of entertainment applications to meet the demands of today's diverse mobile audience." The Baldur's Gate franchise, part of the Dungeons & Dragons world, has redefined the role-playing genre and has since topped the PC game charts with sales of more than 2 million units worldwide. The franchise continues to receive accolades from gaming press around the world. Baldur's Gate was a top 10 PC game during the 2003 holiday season, according to NPD data; was named by GameSpy as one of the 50 best games of all time; and was named by Gamespot.com and MSNBC as "Best Game of the Year in 2003." "Sorrent is a wonderful development and publishing partner for the mobile platform," said Wim Stocks, EVP of sales and marketing for Atari, Inc. "We are confident that the creativity of their development team, as well as the strength of their distribution, will ensure that Baldur's Gate for mobile phones will continue the success that the million-seller franchise has received to date." About Sorrent, Inc. Sorrent is a leading creator and global publisher of wireless entertainment. Sorrent's critically-acclaimed content features single and multiplayer games, based on original and licensed properties, including an award-winning suite of FOX Sports titles. Sorrent has developed a proprietary technology infrastructure that delivers graphically rich, fast-paced mobile games on a wide variety of Java and BREW-enabled handsets. The company's extensive distribution network includes international and US wireless carriers, such as Verizon Wireless, Sprint, AT&T Wireless, Cingular, Nextel, T-Mobile, Boost Mobile, ALLTEL, US Cellular and Western Wireless. Founded in 2001, Sorrent has attracted top tier venture capital firms including NEA, Sienna Ventures and Globespan Capital Partners. For more information, visit www.sorrent.com. About Atari New York-based Atari, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATAR) develops interactive games for all platforms and is one of the largest third-party publishers of interactive entertainment software in the U.S. The Company's 1,000+ titles include hard-core, genre-defining games such as Driver(TM), Enter the Matrix(TM), Neverwinter Nights(TM), Stuntman(TM), Test Drive(R), Unreal(R) Tournament 2003, and Unreal(R) Championship; and mass-market and children's games such as Backyard Sports(TM), Nickelodeon's Blue's Clues(TM) and Dora the Explorer(TM), Civilization(R), Dragon Ball Z(R) and RollerCoaster Tycoon(R). Atari, Inc. is a majority-owned subsidiary of France-based Infogrames Entertainment SA (Euronext 5257), the largest interactive games publisher in Europe. For more information, visit www.atari.com. About the Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast Hasbro (NYSE:HAS) is a worldwide leader in children's and family leisure time entertainment products and services, including the design, manufacture and marketing of games and toys ranging from traditional to high-tech. Both internationally and in the U.S., its PLAYSKOOL, TONKA, MILTON BRADLEY, PARKER BROTHERS, TIGER, and WIZARDS OF THE COAST brands and products provide the highest quality and most recognizable play experiences in the world. Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE:HAS), is a worldwide leader in the trading card game and tabletop roleplaying game categories, and a leading developer and publisher of game-based entertainment products. The company holds an exclusive patent on trading card games (TCGs) and their method of play and produces the premier trading card game, Magic: The Gathering(R), among many other trading card games and family card and board games. Wizards is also a leading publisher of roleplaying games, such as Dungeons & Dragons(R), and publisher of fantasy series fiction with numerous New York Times best-sellers. For more information, visit the Wizards of the Coast website at wizards.com Sorrent, Inc. is a trademark of Sorrent, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Baldur's Gate is a trademark of Hasbro and is used with permission. |
