Ubi Soft sees the move as a great opportunity to reinforce its presence in Asia, which is the number one market when it comes to online gaming. Through this deal, SOE is excited to bring the largest and most beautiful virtual environment to the world's largest population. Chinese gamers have been eager to access EverQuest, the world's most popular MMO game for a long time. Being huge fans of fantasy role-playing games, they will finally be able to immerse themselves in one of the most detailed 3D worlds ever created

At the beginning of 2003, Chinese MMO gamers will join the more than 430,000 players already subscribed around the world to EverQuest and its top-selling expansions The Ruins of Kunark™, The Scars of Velious™ and The Shadows of Luclin™. The latest expansion to the critically acclaimed EverQuest series, EverQuest: The Planes of Power™ launches in the U.S. on October 21, 2002. In line with Ubi Soft's strategy to adapt its games to countries and cultures around the globe, the game will be fully localized, requiring the translation of more than 1.5 million words in Chinese.

"I am delighted to strengthen our already fruitful partnership with SOE by expanding our online presence in Asia," said Gilles Langourieux, managing director of ubi.com. "We are tapping into a significant new source of revenue, and are especially proud to introduce the best 3D MMO game to China."

"As online gaming continues to grow in popularity, EverQuest is truly creating a global online community," said John Smedley, senior vice president and chief operating officer, Sony Online Entertainment. "With localization efforts in Europe, Korea and now mainland China, we are working with leading companies like Ubi Soft to continually expand EverQuest to meet increasing global demand."

Ubi Soft is the leading publisher of video games in China, with more than 230 employees in its Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou offices. With a total of 13 million MMO gamers - including 5 million already paying for online games on a regular basis* - China represents enormous market potential for Ubi Soft and SOE.