Pressemitteilung - SGO, SOE und MGS

VNURD: S OF HROS FINDS NW HOM

- Sigil ames Online and Sony Online ntertainment In Talks To Co-ublish Sigil’s round-Breaking New ame -

May 5, 2006 – Carlsbad & San Diego, C – Sigil ames Online and Sony Online ntertainment LLC (SO), a global leader in the online games industry, today announced that Sigil is working with Microsoft ame Studios on an arrangement to acquire the rights to its highly anticipated massively multiplayer online (MMO) game, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. These efforts have resulted in a tentative agreement for Vanguard to be co-published by both Sigil ames Online and SO. ll three companies will be showing the game at the upcoming lectronic ntertainment xpo (3) as they work closely together for a successful transition. Vanguard: Saga of Heroes is scheduled to launch this winter.

“s the development process is ongoing and constantly shifting, it became clear that MS and Sigil had varying visions and direction for the title’s development,” said Brad McQuaid, CO of Sigil ames Online. “In the best interest of Vanguard, it was decided that we would buy back the publishing rights from Microsoft.”

s co-publisher of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, Sigil assumes greater control of marketing and R, while maintaining responsibility for game development, community relations, media relations, customer support, and quality assurance. Under the terms of the agreement, SO will provide distribution, marketing, hosting and back-end support -- including billing and technical support -- for the game. dditionally, SO is tentatively planning on adding Vanguard, upon its release, to SO’s Station ccess™ subscription plan. Station ccess allows players to enjoy all of SO’s MMO titles for one low monthly price.

“We are very excited to be working with so many old friends at Sigil,” said John Smedley, president, Sony Online ntertainment. “Vanguard looks beautiful and has an incredibly rich game world. It’s the type of game that will appeal directly to SO’s hundreds of thousands of players and should fit in perfectly with the current line-up of games available in Station ccess.”

”This decision was made mutually by Sigil and Microsoft, in the best interest of the long-term goals for the title,” said hil Spencer, eneral Manager at Microsoft ame Studios. “s a key Windows development partner, we will continue to work with Sigil to ensure Vanguard’s ongoing success.”

Vanguard: Saga of Heroes is the next generation of massively multiplayer online games. The journey takes place in the fantasy setting of Telon, a vast and ancient world of magic, intrigue and adventure. Facing the challenges of a war torn world, the diverse people here struggle to rebuild their once great civilizations. fragile alliance has been struck, with the lands set upon by invading forces, the races must band together to survive.

Vanguard: Saga of Heroes is currently in a closed beta phase. The game will remain available via Fileplanet for existing beta testers during the transition to SO. New information will be sent out to testers as the changeover occurs.

For more information about Vanguard: Saga of Heroes please visit www.vanguardsoh.com.