Next UO Expansion Officially Announced!

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 25, 2004--Electronic Arts (Nasdaq:ERTS - News), the world's leading interactive entertainment software company, today announced the development of the next expansion pack for the massively multiplayer online game, Ultima Online(TM) (UO). Expanding the world and advancing the franchise, the new title will give consumers considerable player vs. player capabilities, two additional professions and a vast new land to explore. The UO expansion pack is scheduled for release in Fall 2004. The game name has not been announced.

"We are constantly improving Ultima Online by paying attention to our players' wishes," said Anthony Castoro, Producer of UO Live. "Feedback from our large international player base helped us determine priorities for this expansion, including new world content and a unified player vs. player system."

Exploring a mysterious Asian environment, players can strive to master two new professions; one focusing on physical combat abilities, and the other on magical combat and stealth. In addition, players will have new house customization themes and decorations to use in designing and building homes from scratch or modifying their existing homes.

UO continues to be a leader in the online gaming space with 225,000 subscribers. The game is available in six languages and is played in over 100 countries located in every time zone.

In addition to development on UO, the team continues to develop Ultima X: Odyssey(TM) (UXO), a brand new next-generation massively multi-player online role-playing game (MMORPG). The game, scheduled to ship later this year, promises to take online adventuring to a whole new level.