If you haven't heard of Poppit!™ yet, it's time to get your game on. Electronic Arts Inc (NASDAQ:ERTS), the world’s leading interactive entertainment company, and iVillage, a division of NBC Universal and the leading online destination for women, today announced that the two companies have joined forces to create a co-branded Games Channel that will live on iVillage.com and be fueled by EA’s Pogo.com™. The partnership brings entertainment and stress relief through casual online games to women across America. Starting today, anyone looking for a few minutes or a few hours of online leisure activity can visit http://games.ivillage.com to find Pogo’s simple-to-learn puzzle, word and card games, including Poppit!, a wildly popular favorite of female gamers. Through this unique relationship, Pogo.com becomes the exclusive casual games provider to the 16 million iVillage.com members.
Pogo.com brings its powerhouse suite of casual online game titles such as Poppit!, First Class Solitaire, Word Whomp!™, Hearts, Spades and its premium gaming service, Club Pogo™, to iVillage, adding an entertaining and exciting roster of free casual games to iVillage’s existing line-up of channels, including Health, Wellness, Diet & Fitness, Pregnancy & Parenting, Beauty & Style, Home & Food and others.
ComScore MediaMetrix (December 06) reports that 39% of women online visit gaming sites and women spend 83M hours playing games. This compares to 63M hours spent on Google and 47M hours spent on Yahoo! instant messenger. Pogo is the number one gaming site with women 25 – 54.
Nancy Smith, Executive Vice President of Pogo, commented, “We couldn’t be happier to be teaming up with iVillage. Not only do we share an audience demographic, but we share a passion for women’s issues and a belief that interactive entertainment is a great way to stay connected, stay sharp and keep a healthy mind. This relationship will allow us to reach even more women than ever before."
“The number of women playing games online has clearly exploded and, as the leading destination for women online, we knew it was time for us to carve out a space where our members could play to their heart’s content,” said Ezra Kucharz, COO, iVillage Properties. “Pogo is the biggest player in the industry and the perfect partner for us as we dive into gaming.”
iVillage members will be invited to participate in monthly game nights on the new Games Channel, where they’ll interact with other Pogo users. Members will also be given two-week passes to try out Club Pogo for free.
For more information on Pogo games, visit www.pogo.com. For screenshots from Pogo.com games, please visit info.ea.com.
About Pogo.com
Pogo.com is the #1 online game destination for casual gaming(1). Boasting a wide variety of more than 75 free online games including puzzle, word, casino, classic card and board, Pogo.com features both single-player and multiplayer games. The site offers players an easy-to-use chat feature where millions of people talk about their favorite games, best scores, or simply share stories about their lives. With over 14 million users a month, Pogo.com is known for its thriving online community of players who forge life-long friendships through the site. Pogo.com’s premium service, Club Pogo, offers players a variety of VIP features including exclusive games, no ad interruptions, private chat and avatars. Club Pogo has over 1.4 million paying subscribers
(1) According to ComScore Dec 06.
About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for videogame systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTSTM, EATM, EA SPORTS BIGTM and POGOTM. In fiscal 2006, EA posted revenue of $2.95 billion and had 27 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.
Electronic Arts, EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS BIG, POGO, POGO.com, Club Pogo, Poppit!, Word Whomp and The Sims are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
About iVillage Inc.:
iVillage Inc., a division of NBC Universal, is the first and largest media company dedicated exclusively to connecting women at every stage of their lives. Ranked the #1 online destination for women with 16 million unique visitors (comScore MediaMetrix), iVillage.com offers an authentic community infused with compelling content from experts on parenting, pregnancy, beauty, style, fitness, relationships, food and entertainment. The site's interactive features, including thousands of message boards and blogs, allow women around the world to connect, share ideas, and seek advice and support about everything from fertility to fashion.
Established in 1995, iVillage's brand extensions include iVillage Limited in the UK, iVillage Parenting Network, iVillage Total Health and owned sites Astrology.com, gURL.com and GardenWeb. The company, acquired by NBC Universal, Inc. in May 2006, is based in New York.
