April 28^th, 2004 (12:00am) - Three Rings, developer and operator of Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates, the massively multi-player game of Puzzles and Piracy for the casual gamer, today announced a number of milestones for their hit online game.

Hot on the heels of over 5,000 paying subscribers signing up for the game, Three Rings has signed partnerships with Gamigo AG in Germany and Pulse Asia in Greater China. Gamigo and Pulse will localize Puzzle Pirates, operate the game servers and market the game in their respective territories.

"Harr! We be shivering our timbers to bring Yohoho! to the gaming fanatics of Germany and the exploding audiences of the China Seas!" said Daniel James, Three Rings’ CEO, known ’pon the high seas as Captain Cleaver. "Puzzle Pirates has shown that a downloadable persistent world can appeal to the casual gaming audience, and we are confident that great swathes of German and Chinese Pirates will soon be sailing the Oceans in search of rum and booty!"

"With respect to the Chinese market, most folks there play in web cafes, and we know Puzzle Pirates is a lot o’ fun to play in a crew with yer mates, not least as it be appealing to the ladies as much as the gents," continued Daniel. "In Germany, the popularity of games and board games in particular bode well for Puzzle Pirates, which has been greatly inspired by the German board gaming aesthetic."

Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates continue to receive critical acclaim, winning the awards for Audience Choice and Technical Excellence at this year’s Independent Game Festival at the Game Developers Conference, and nomination for Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences’ "Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year." Most recently, Puzzle Pirates has been nominated for the 2004 Webby award for Games.