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CASUAL GAMES LEADER REALARCADE AND GAMEHOUSE STUDIOS SURPASSES 250 MILLION DOWNLOAD MARK
Weekly Casual Game Downloads Soar to 3 Million As Global Expansion, New Distribution Partnerships Drive Growth
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — March 9, 2005 — This week at the Game Developer’s Conference (GDC) 2005, RealNetworks®, Inc. (Nasdaq: RNWK) announced that its RealArcade® service and GameHouse® Studios surpassed more than 250 million casual game downloads. The company also said that the number of games downloaded each week has soared to over 3 million due to recent global expansion and the addition of new distribution partners.
RealArcade offers consumers a fun, unique and compelling way to discover, acquire and play PC games in a single, easy to use environment. RealArcade provides play-before-you-pay access to over 280 of the best in downloadable games, free online Web games, broadband games, and Palm games. GameHouse Studios develops and publishes many of the top casual games on the Internet and for mobile entertainment including "Shape Shifter™", "Adventure Inlay™", "Word Slinger™" and "Collapse! II®".
As RealNetworks disclosed earlier this year, the company focused on expanding its products and services sold directly to consumers over the Internet, such as downloadable games and music subscriptions in 2004. Fourth quarter revenue from consumer products and services grew 47% to $60.8 million, from $41.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2003. Revenue from Games sales and subscriptions grew 156% to $10.1 million from $3.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2003.
"The popularity of easy to play, family friendly casual games continue to grow around the globe," said Martin Plaehn, who leads the games division at RealNetworks Inc. "The untold story at shows like GDC is that many adults- especially women- play PC-based games. As the leader in casual downloadable games, Real is committed to delivering and distributing games with broad appeal to consumers who might not otherwise think of themselves as 'gamers'."
Great Games Play Worldwide
Since September alone, RealArcade has served more than 50 million game downloads to consumers around the globe. The company continues to see download growth accelerate by 20 percent in Europe, since its expansion into Europe last year with RealArcade in Germany, France and Spain.
If you are interested in additional information about RealArcade or GameHouse, please visit www.realarcade.com or www.gamehouse.com.
For More Information, Contact:
Maureen Farley, 206-892-6653, mfarley@real.com
Amy Janzen, Sutherland Gold Communications for RealNetworks, 866-262-7373 x104 (o), amy@sutherlandgold.com
ABOUT REALNETWORKS, INC.
RealNetworks, Inc. is the leading creator of digital media services and software including the award-winning Rhapsody Internet jukebox service, RealArcade downloadable game service, GameHouse Studios and RealPlayer 10. Consumers can access and experience audio/video programming and download RealNetworks' consumer software at http://www.real.com. Broadcasters, network operators, media companies and enterprises use RealNetworks' products and services to create and deliver digital media to PCs, mobile phones and consumer electronics devices. RealNetworks' systems and corporate information is located at http://www.realnetworks.com.
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