NCSoft
Signs Digital Distribution Deal with Direct2Drive
(Press
Release - PC)
BRISBANE,
Calif. - Sept. 29, 2005 - NCsoft®, the world's leading developer
and publisher of online computer games, has made two of its hit titles,
City of Heroes® and Lineage® II, available for purchase on
Direct2Drive, the successful online digital retail store operated by IGN
Entertainment.
The
award-winning City of Heroes is a massively multiplayer online game (MMOG)
that allows players to take on the roles of super-powered heroes in the
3D graphical world of "Paragon City(TM)." Since its
launch in April of 2004, City of Heroes has grown into a major franchise
title, spawning a passionate network of community and fan sites, forums
and comic books. Lineage II, also an MMOG, is the sequel to the
wildly popular title Lineage, which established NCsoft as a key player
early on.
"We
are thrilled that NCsoft chose Direct2Drive as the only outside digital
delivery outlet to carry their games," Jamie Berger, vice president
and general manager of IGN Entertainment's consumer products division,
said. "Direct2Drive is dedicated to gamers who appreciate the
best
quality games, and our partnership with NCsoft further accelerates
Direct2Drive's momentum as a leader in the digital distribution
market."
"City
of Heroes and Lineage II are massively successful games; we wanted to
broaden our reach," said Dorothy Ferguson, vice president of sales
and marketing for NCsoft's North American business.
"Direct2Drive is a leader in digital distribution, offering AAA
hardcore games from the best developers and publishers in the industry,
and we're excited to be a part of the digital revolution."
Advertisement
Since
launching in October 2004, Direct2Drive has been gaining popularity
among IGN's largely 18-34 year-old male customer base with its growing
roster of top games. Direct2Drive builds on the proven operational
infrastructure of FilePlanet, IGN Entertainment's download site and
IGN's separate HitPoints program, which provides full digital game
downloads as rewards to IGN and GameSpy subscribers.
About
NCsoft
NCsoft's
North American business is headquartered in Austin, Texas and is part of
Korea-based NCsoft Corporation. NCsoft, with its own development and
publishing offices in Texas and California, also works with subsidiaries
and third party developers throughout North America to develop and
publish innovative online entertainment software products. The company
launched two massively multiplayer titles on the same day last year:
Lineage II and City of Heroes, and in April of 2005 released its third
title, Guild Wars. NCsoft expects to launch two more massively
multiplayer titles in coming months: City of Villains(TM) in the fall
of 2005 and Auto Assault(TM) and Tabula Rasa(TM) in 2006. More
information about
NCsoft can be found at http://www.PlayNC.com.
About
Direct2Drive
Direct2Drive
(http://www.direct2drive.com),
IGN Entertainment's digital download retail store, serves the users of
IGN's popular games and entertainment sites. Direct2Drive offers
game publishers a new channel to sell both their new and catalog PC game
titles. The service uses proven Digital Rights Management
technologies to ensure a secure transaction for both the buyer and the
game publisher. As a digital-download-only store,
Direct2Drive carries no physical inventory, meaning Direct2Drive can
offer as many games to its customers as a publisher wishes to put on
sale.
About
IGN Entertainment
IGN
Entertainment is a leading Internet media and services company focused
on the videogame and entertainment enthusiast markets. Collectively,
IGN's properties reached more than 30 million unique users worldwide in
the month of August 2005, according to Internet audience measurement
firm comScore Media Metrix*. The company's network of
videogame-related properties (IGN.com, GameSpy, FilePlanet, TeamXbox,
Direct2Drive and others), is the web's number one videogame information
destination and attracts one of the largest concentrated audiences of
young males on the Internet. IGN also owns and operates the
popular movie-related website, Rotten Tomatoes and one of the leading
male lifestyle websites, AskMen.com. In addition, IGN provides
technology for online game play in videogames. The company is
headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, with offices throughout the
U.S. and in Montreal.