GOTHENBURG, Sweden, Dec. 9, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- French-Canadian publisher Microids has commissioned Scandinavian game developer UDS to develop an action sports game called "Tennis Masters Series 2003" (TMS 2003) for PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube. TMS 2003 is the Tennis Masters Series' official licence and the release is expected early next year. UDS is one of Scandinavia's leading developers of computer, video and console games with approx. 110 employees in Sweden and Britain.
Tennis Masters Series 2003 (TMS 2003) for Sony PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube is an official licence from the actual Tennis Masters Series/Tennis Masters Cup which will be released all over the world early next year by the French-Canadian publishing company Microids. UDS has been commissioned to develop the game for both platforms, which together has approximately 80 percent of the international console market. The game will mainly be developed at UDS' office in Gothenburg in Western Sweden. The order value is not official but it is a large and important order for UDS.
With Tennis Masters Series 2003 UDS continues its tradition of developing entertaining and action packed sports games such as previous global successes Sno-Cross Championship Racing and No Fear Downhill Mountainbiking.
In TMS 2003 the players can compete with the best tennis players in the world in professional tennis' most prestigious tournament series -- the Tennis Masters Series. TMS 2003 gives the players the opportunity to travel all over the world to play nine Masters Tennis tournaments at realistic stadiums. The aim is to qualify for the annual Tennis Masters Cup and be awarded the title of Best Tennis Player of the Year.
The game offers fast arcade action but also an equally important and entertainment enhancing game tactics dimension. More than 400 motion capture animations and a great number of different shots is a guarantee for an exceptional gaming experience.
Microids was founded in 1985 and today has 125 employees. See www.microids.com.
About UDS:
UDS, Unique Development Studios, was founded in 1997 and is today one of Scandinavia's leading developers of computer, video and console games. UDS has approx. 110 employees at its offices in Norrkoping, Stockholm, Gothenburg and in Britain. UDS is owned by its founders and employees, and by Slottsbacken Venture Capital, Nordico Invest, Banc of America, The FKF Pension Fund, Metropolis Technology Investments (MTI) and other institutional investors.
UDS has well established partnerships with many of the leading game publishing companies in the world, e.g. Fox Interactive, Mattel, CDV, Microids, Infogrames, Sony and SCI.
The UDS Entertainment Group also contains AddGames, which markets and distributes ad-financed computer games ('advertainment') for the world market, and GlobalFun, which develops and supplies interactive entertainment products for the world market, e.g. via its own en "gaming community" on the Internet. GlobalFun will also market UDS-developed games for digital TV and cellular phones.
The world market for computer games is expected to grow to nearly 17 billion U.S. dollars in Europe and the United States combined in 2003 (source: Datamonitor). This substantial growth can be explained by the arrival of new game consoles, by the increasing rate of households becoming equipped with PC's and by the emergence of on-line games. According to the same source, the number of online players is more than 15 million at present. Online entertainment via the mobile phone will overtake information and communication to become the most lucrative mContent revenue stream globally in 2005.
For further information and illustrations please contact:
Thomas Lofblad Managing Director UDS Ph: +46 11 470 51 50 Cellph: +46 708 62 44 63 E-mail: thomas.lofblad@uds.se Also see our Websites: www.globalfun.com, www.uds.se, or www.addgames.se. This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/12/09/20021209BIT00740/wkr0001.doc www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/12/09/20021209BIT00740/wkr0002.pdf