Electronic Arts and FIBA Sign Licensing Agreement to Feature FIBA World Championship

Electronic Arts and the FIBA have officially announced a multi-year licensing agreement whereby Electronic Arts will create an FIBA World Championship videograme. Electronic Arts is the number one software company for interactive entertainment. The FIBA is the world's governing organization for basketball.

The new video game will include teams from all over the world. NBA LIVE 08, which is scheduled to ship in October, will include eight international teams. The game will feature 2006 World Championship winners Spain as well as the runners up USA and Greece. NBA LIVE08 will also feature teams from Germany, Argentina, China, Italy and France.

There are two types of modes that will be available for all eight international teams of the NBA LIVE 08 video game: Play Now mode and the new FIBA World Championship Mode which is available on the Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3 and PlayStation 2 versions of the game.

Director of Product Marketing, EA SPORTS, Jordan Edelstein, says that EA SPORTS, as a result of the FIBA World Championship license to the NBA LIVE franchise, will be a welcome expansion of the NBA LIVE 08 game in that it will allow fans to experience a greater depth in the virtual world of basketball.

FIBA's Commercial Director, Matthew Osmon, says that he is very pleased to partner with Electronic Arts in order to give basketball fans an opportunity to play the FIBA World Championship.

In 2006, EA SPORTS ™ NBA Live 07 was the hottest selling video basketball game on the market. The NBA LIVE 08 is currently being developed at Electronic Arts in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is anticipated that the NBA LIVE 08 will ship worldwide to retail stores sometime in the fall.

The NBA LIVE 08 will be available for the Xbox 360™, the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable), the PlayStation®2 and the PLAYSTATION®3 as well as the Wii™. NBA LIVE 08 is rated "E" (Everyone) by ESRBand 3+ by PEGI.