LONDON and SANTA CLARA, CALIF. – 2/27/2007 - The Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG) and Macrovision Corporation (NASDAQ: MVSN) today announced that WDIG has signed an agreement with Macrovision to digitally distribute Disney-branded casual games in Europe and Australia via Macrovision's games network. The agreement extends WDIG's reach in the downloadable casual games market and gives families a convenient, user-friendly network through which to download their favorite games.
The first set of Disney games currently are available on Macrovision's games network and include
Pirates of the Caribbean Pinball, The Little Mermaid Pinball, The Lion King Grubalicious, Aladdin Pinball and Stitch's Blazing Lasers. The games are available in multiple languages, including English, German, French, Italian and Spanish. The Disney games are being distributed by the leading portals, retailers and peer-to-peer groups that are part of Macrovision's game network.
"The casual gaming market in Europe is projected to reach approximately $400 million by 2009*, with usage extending beyond serious game enthusiasts to include more mainstream, casual gaming audiences," said Myles MacBean, vice president technology and operations at Walt Disney Internet Group, Europe. "Disney Game Downloads is a good example of our continued success in leveraging new technologies such as broadband to deliver unique interactive entertainment experiences for kids and families around the world. Through Macrovision and its game network, we are able to expand our European and Australian distribution and reach an even larger audience."
Each Disney game can be previewed on a trial basis and then purchased via download through Macrovision's games network distribution partners. Once purchased, games can be shared as trials on an unlimited basis.
"Digital distribution is a key focus at Macrovision and we enjoy working with our customers when they enter the online distribution market, seek to reach greater audiences, and move into new and different digital distribution areas," said Fred Amoroso, CEO of Macrovision. "We are very pleased to have WDIG Europe distribute their casual games on our European and Australian games network and are committed to providing their customers with a proven, reliable games network through which they can view and purchase their favorite Disney games."
About Walt Disney Internet Group Europe Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG) provides strategic leadership, business execution support and a world-class technology platform for all The Walt Disney Company's Internet properties, including 14 country-specific Disney websites across Europe, reaching five million unique visitors each month. WDIG is a market leader in developing and distributing entertainment and informational content to new platforms. The company creates and delivers products for broadband distribution including Disney Connection and Toontown Online, the world's first massive multi-player online game for kids and families. Through relationships with some of Europe's largest mobile operators, WDIG distributes content and services to wireless users under the Disney brand.
About Macrovision Solutions Corporation
Macrovision Solutions Corporation is focused on providing a uniquely simple digital home entertainment experience by delivering solutions to businesses to protect, enhance and distribute digital goods to consumers across multiple channels. Macrovision's technologies are deployed by companies in the entertainment, consumer electronics, cable and satellite, and online distribution markets to solve industry-specific challenges and bring greater value and a more robust user experience to their customers. The result of deploying Macrovision's solutions is a simple end user experience for discovering, managing and enjoying digital content. Today, Macrovision provides connected middleware, media recognition, interactive programming guides, copy protection and rich media, data and metadata on music, games, movies and television programming. The company also operates an entertainment portal which can be found at http://www.allmusic.com/. Macrovision holds over 4,100 issued or pending patents and patent applications worldwide.
Macrovision is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, with numerous offices across the United States and around the world including Japan, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, and the United Kingdom. More information about Macrovision can be found at http://www.macrovision.com/.
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Forward Looking Statements
All statements contained herein that are not statements of historical fact, including statements that use the words "will" or "is expected to," or similar words that describe the Company's or its management's future plans, objectives, or goals, are "forward-looking statements" and are made pursuant to the Safe-Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause the actual results of the Company to be materially different from the historical results and/or from any future results or outcomes expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors are further addressed in the Company's most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30, 2008 and such other documents as are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time (available at http://www.sec.gov/). The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this release, except as required by law.
