Metaboli Gametap to Distribute Award-Winning “Unreal” Series Worldwide
Epic Games’ Catalog Available for Games on Demand Subscription and for Download to Own
April 6, 2009 – Metaboli SA and Epic Games, Inc. have signed a three-year agreement to offer Epic's complete, multimillion-selling Unreal series of games through Metaboli, Europe's leading distributor of video games for download.
Under the agreement, the Unreal catalog will be available through Metaboli and Gamesplanet in Europe and GameTap in the U.S. on a subscription basis and for full purchase. The library includes Unreal Gold, Unreal II: The Awakening, Unreal Tournament: Game of the Year Edition, Unreal Tournament 2004: Editor’s Choice Edition, and Unreal Tournament 3 Black. Unreal Tournament 3 Black is the fully updated version of UT3 that includes the massive Titan Pack title update and downloadable content.
Furthermore, these electronic software distribution (ESD) offerings will be completely free of digital rights management (DRM) software – which means there will be no unnecessary inconveniences in the name of piracy protection for end users.
“This is the very first time Unreal Tournament 3 has been available for subscription, and we’re pleased to increase the availability of the Unreal series through this partnership with Metaboli,” said Jay Wilbur, vice president of Epic. “Our aim is to make it as easy as possible for players to access our content, and we hope to better serve the Unreal community through this arrangement.”
“We are more than proud to be able to provide to our customers the famous multiplayer-focused first-person shooter series started off in 1998,” declares Pierre Forest, VP Content of Metaboli. “In our experience, these are exactly the kind of games suitable for subscription as people are playing them again and again, month after month, thanks to the tremendous variety of maps and modes of play.”
The Unreal series will be marketed under the Metaboli, Gamesplanet and Gametap brands with support from Metaboli’s extensive partner network, whose members include Orange, BT, MSN, Game and Saturn in Europe with more soon to be announced for the U.S.
For more information or to purchase Epic's games via Metaboli, please visit
www.metaboli.com or
www.gametap.com.
About Epic Games
Epic Games, Inc., based in Cary, NC and established in 1991, develops cutting-edge games and cross-platform game engine technology. The company has created multiple million-selling, award-winning titles in its "Unreal" series, most recently shipping "Unreal Tournament 3" for PC, PLAYSTATION®3 and Xbox 360®. Epic's breakthrough game, "Gears of War," sold 5 million copies and won over 30 Game of the Year awards. "Gears of War 2" was released on Nov. 7, 2008, and sold over 2 million units in its first weekend at retail. Epic's Unreal Engine 3 is the three-time consecutive winner of Game Developer magazine's Best Engine Front Line Award and this year's Hall of Fame inductee. Additional information about Epic can be obtained through the Epic Games Web site at
www.epicgames.com.
About Metaboli
Created in 2001, the French society Metaboli, currently European leader in digital distribution of PC games, aims at worldwide leadership after acquiring
www.gametap.com in September 2008, the American leader in video games subscription.
Thanks to its publishers partners, as Atari, Codemaster, Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Rockstar, Sega, THQ, Take 2 or Ubisoft, Metaboli proposes today the best video games catalogue available by download in Europe. These are more than 600 PC games that are distributed through unlimited subscription on
www.metaboli.com, and a system of unit sales by download on
www.gamesplanet.com.
Metaboli also developed the business-to-business platform Digital Tycoon, which allows publishers and distributors of video games to design, deploy and run their online digital distribution strategy on a global scale. Today more than 50 partners in Europe use this ecosystem to simplify and smooth trade, including Atari, THQ, MSN, T-Online, Orange, Virgin Media, FNAC, Pixmania, Rue du Commerce…
Finally, capitalizing on its success in marketing online, Metaboli has created in late 2008 its agency Metagency, which offers various benefits of listing, membership, CRM and virality to its partners to optimize their performance and increase their visibility on the Internet in Europe.
More information on
www.metaboli.fr
Epic, Epic Games, Unreal, Unreal Tournament and Gears of War are trademarks or registered trademarks of Epic Games, Inc. in the United States of America and elsewhere. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
