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Hitman:
Contract to Ship April 20th
(Press
Release)
Sequel
to Worldwide Multi-Million Unit Seller Hitman 2: Silent Assassin 'Goes
Gold' For PlayStation®2 Computer Entertainment System, Xbox® Video
Game System and PC
Eidos Kicks-Off One of the Publisher's Biggest Ever Marketing Campaigns
in Support of Agent 47's Latest Action Stealth Adventure
San Francisco, CA (April 13, 2004) - Eidos (NASDAQ: EIDSY), one of
the world's leading publishers and developers of entertainment software,
today announced that its highly-anticipated, action-stealth game Hitman:
Contracts, developed by IO Interactive, has gone gold for the
PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, the Xbox® video game
system from Microsoft and the PC and will be available at retail
beginning April 21, 2004 in North America. The release of Hitman:
Contracts will be supported by a massive multi-million dollar marketing
campaign - one of the largest to-date by Eidos North America.
"As the follow-up to the multi-million unit selling Hitman 2:
Silent Assassin, Hitman: Contracts is one of this year's
"must-have" titles for gamers. Eidos will unleash an exciting
marketing campaign with tremendous reach and frequency to back the next
installment," said Paul Baldwin, Vice President of Marketing for
Eidos Inc.
Hitman: Contracts will be backed by an in-depth marketing campaign
encompassing television, radio, print, online, channel and public
relations activities. The multi-million dollar "make the hit"
television campaign features four different 15 and 30-second spots,
which will run for a total of six weeks beginning two weeks prior to the
game's in-store date. The radio campaign will run nationwide for two
months on the Howard Stern Show, and it will feature live reads and
sponsorship in the second annual "Mrs. Butterface" contest
during the week of May 10, 2004. Hitman: Contracts' print effort
includes ads slated to run in lifestyle publications such as FHM,
Blender, Penthouse and Stuff magazines. Eidos will also achieve
significant reach via major advertising for the game in all the gaming
magazines.
Additionally, Eidos will charge a focused online campaign, part of which
includes releasing the Hitman: Contracts television spot via Interscope
Records and the 50 Cent and Eminem DeskSite units. DeskSite is a
highly-targeted, customizable, opt-in software program that
automatically delivers full-screen, broadcast-quality video
entertainment directly to the consumer's PC desktop.
On the channel front, major retail promotions will flank high-impact
frontline real estate at prominent retail venues such as Best Buy, EB
Games, GameStop, Toys 'R' Us, Blockbuster, Hollywood Video and more.
Eidos will back the Hitman: Contracts launch with pre-order incentives,
employee sales programs, and top-tier in-store merchandising and
national ad support. In addition, the title will be promoted via
mainstream consumer and gaming focused comprehensive public relations
campaigns.
Hitman: Contracts is the follow-up to Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, which
to-date has sold more than three million copies since its release in
November 2002. The game explores the dark psychology of killing for a
living as the player takes on the role of the world's deadliest
assassin, Agent 47. Hitman: Contracts promises to be the most disturbing
and action-packed episode of the series. Hitman: Contracts is in
development by IO Interactive, the Danish-based studio recently acquired
by Eidos. Hitman: Contracts will ship throughout Europe beginning April
30.
About Eidos
Eidos plc is one of the world's leading publishers and developers of
entertainment software with a diverse mix of titles for the PC,
PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, Nintendo GameCube(tm) and
the XboxÔ video game system from Microsoft. For more information on
Eidos and its products visit www.eidos.com
About Xbox
Xbox (http://www.xbox.com) is the
video game system from Microsoft that brings people together for the
most exhilarating game and entertainment experiences. Xbox
delivers an expansive collection of breakthrough games, powerful
hardware and the unified Xbox Live online service. The new
tagline, "it's good to play together," captures the spirit of
Xbox as the social hub of the new digital entertainment lifestyle. Xbox
is now available in North America, Asia, Europe and Australia.