Mobile Games Available on i-mode wireless

Europe : O2 has announced it has partnered with RealNetworks to provide the RealArcade Mobile game service through the i-mode service to consumers in the UK. This new service will be available starting 1st October 2005.

The service will offer mobile consumers access to a rotating selection of leading casual game titles for a monthly subscription fee of 3.00 pounds sterling in the UK and 3.00 euros in Ireland. As an official partner of O2, RealArcade will be available through i-mode's intuitive interface under Games on the menu.

The partnership forms part of i-mode's unique content structure through which RealNetworks will be able to quickly develop and deploy sophisticated, secure commercial content to consumers. The subscription service will bill directly through the user's phone bill. i-mode is a flexible business model that facilitates both subscription based and non-subscription based content.

RealArcade's new mobile games service provides a selection of Mr.Goodliving's proven, popular mobile classics such as Trivial Pursuit(TM) and Playman Sports(TM) Series, the highly successful sports franchise that has sold more than 1.5 million copies worldwide. The service will also feature new game titles based on the most popular titles from RealArcade on the PC. Mr.Goodliving, a global developer and publisher of mobile games, leads RealNetworks' mobile games business in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Grahame Riddell, Head of i-mode Marketing for O2 UK said: "We are pleased to be working with RealNetworks to offer its RealArcade Mobile services to our customers. RealNetworks has managed to capture the benefits of i-mode and joined the i-mode ecosystem to offer to its users a compelling mobile experience. O2 wants to make developing mobile content as attractive and as easy for businesses as possible. The building of a strong content community both on and off portal will be critical to the success of the services. Our research clearly shows that consumers are willing to look at and pay for mobile content, and expectations are tied closely to a user's experience of the Internet. Use will be driven by periods of downtime, communication applications like e-mail, and situational driven use, when information is needed instantly. The overriding point for consumers is that convenience is key."

"As a part of the new i-mode service from O2, RealArcade Mobile offers consumers a host of compelling casual games," said Juha Ruskola, General Manager RealNetworks Mobile Games for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. "Consumers are always looking for fresh, fun and challenging experiences with their mobiles, and we're confident the combination of RealArcade and i-mode delivers."

About i-mode

The i-mode service, exclusively from O2, marks a departure from the closed "walled-garden" approach to content provision to an open environment, encouraging community building and innovative content services. It is easier for content partners to develop commercially viable customer-focused services with a low incremental cost model -- i-mode sites can be built for less than 10K pounds, reducing the immediate pressure for subscription revenues, and encouraging a diverse range of original services and content.

i-mode builds on O2's market-leading position in the provision of mobile messaging and content services. With one in three text messages in the UK sent across the O2 network nearly 22 per cent of the group's service revenues now derive from data. The addition of the i-mode capability to O2's service portfolio in the medium term will complement the highly successful O2 Active WAP portal which now has well over 3 million customers and represents more than 50 per cent of UK mobile internet traffic.