January 26^th, 2002 (12:00am) - SAN DIEGO, CA and SEOUL, KOREA - January 23, 2002 - Sony Online
Entertainment Inc., a worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online
gaming, and NCsoft(tm) Corp., the world’s largest independent online game
company, announced today a strategic partnership to bring EverQuest(r), to
the burgeoning Asian market. As part of the agreement, NCsoft will host
EverQuest on its game servers in Korea, maintain a robust customer service
department and work with SOE on marketing initiatives focused on the Korean
market. The two companies expect the game to be available during the summer
of 2002 and plan to bring the service to other Asian territories including
Taiwan and Hong Kong in the future. Terms of the agreement were not
disclosed.
"One of our main goals at Sony Online is to expand the online gaming
community by making great games like EverQuest readily available to
consumers around the globe," said Kelly Flock, president, Sony Online
Entertainment. "NCsoft is the perfect partner given its knowledge of the
Korean game market, its own success with Lineage, and its direct access to
millions of gamers from day one."
Over the past twelve months, SOE has actively expanded its international
presence, deploying an EverQuest game server in Europe and developing
translation software to allow players from all over the world to communicate
in real-time using their native languages.
"The Korean market is ready and waiting for a game like EverQuest," said
Richard Garriott, executive producer at NCsoft’s Austin, Texas subsidiary.
"We have seen incredible success with Lineage and we are excited to
introduce a new genre of massively multiplayer online gaming to the
exploding Asian market."
More than 22 million Koreans go online every day with 57 percent of those
regularly visiting gaming sites, according to NetValue Korea, which monitors
four Asian markets, including Korea.
EverQuest continues to grow with top-selling expansions The Ruins of Kunark
and The Scars of Velious and most recently, EverQuest: The Shadows of
Luclin(tm) with new player features and improved graphics, EverQuest: The
Shadows of Luclin is the latest and most extensive expansion pack yet
offered. During peak periods, more than 98,000 adventurers and dragon
slayers have explored the world of Norrath simultaneously. EverQuest
currently has more than 410,000 subscribers.
Sony Online Entertainment Inc. (SOE), the online gaming division of Sony
Pictures Digital Entertainment, is a worldwide leader in massively
multiplayer online gaming. Headquartered in San Diego, California, SOE
develops, publishes and distributes entertainment for the PC and online
markets. With more than 11 million registered users, SOE’s award-winning
website, The Station(r) (www.station.com ) hosts a
variety of entertaining games and player communities spanning all genres.
In addition to blockbuster hits EverQuest(r) and Jeopardy! Online, SOE has
an array of cutting-edge online games in development such as PlanetSide(tm),
Star Wars Galaxies and Sovereign.
NCsoft, headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, is the world’s largest
independent online game company. Established in 1997 as a systems
integration company, NCsoft leapt forward to become the world’s leading
online game software company. In Korea, its blockbuster hit game Lineage
commands a 47% market share and attracts the greatest number of concurrent
users in the world. Currently there are more than four million active
subscribers playing Lineage worldwide. Currently NCsoft has offices in the
United States, Japan, Hong Kong, and Korea and has active Lineage service in
those areas as well as Taiwan. More information about NCsoft Korea is
available at .