Press Release
BLITZ®: THE
LEAGUE™ TACKLES STORES NATIONWIDE
Backed by a Major Marketing Campaign and No Longer Bound by NFL
Restrictions, Blitz: The League Conveys Darker Side of Professional
Football
Chicago – October 17, 2005 –
Midway Games Inc. (NYSE: MWY), a leading interactive entertainment
publisher and developer, today announced that it has shipped the
first-ever story driven football videogame, Blitz®: The League™, for
the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system and the Xbox® video
game system from Microsoft.
Blitz: The League is the football videogame that Midway has always
wanted to develop given the creative freedom from NFL restrictions,”
said Steve Allison, chief marketing officer, Midway. “As a
result,we’ve been able to focus our efforts on developing an
entertaining sports game that also leverages the controversy of what
happens both between the lines and beyond in professional sports
today.
Blitz: The League's Multi-Million Dollar Marketing Campaign
includes:
Published under license from FHM Magazine with advertorials, print
campaign, sponsorships and other promotions centered around cover
athlete, NFL legend, Lawrence Taylor
National television advertising campaign on multiple mainstream
broadcast and cable networks ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, FOX, MTV, MTV2,
Comedy Central, Fox Sports Net, Fuse TV, FX, and SpikeTV
Relationship with SpikeTV program The Ultimate Fighter including mat
advertising, in-program placement, and giveaways
Participation in consumer oriented events & tours such as:
Game Live's 2005 College Tour (25 colleges nationwide)
Vibe Game Club featuring Yardfest (20 colleges nationwide)
FHM Tailgates in New York City and San Francisco
IGN Live (Oct. 22 & 23 – Anaheim Convention Center)
GameSpot's G.A.M.E., The Game's and Music Experience (December 2005)
Aggressive online campaign to top-tier enthusiast and mainstream
consumer sites including Yahoo.com, ESPN.com, Gamespot.com, IGN.com,
and WWE.com, among others
Print advertising campaign across multiple major video game and
consumer publications including ESPN The Magazine, Game Informer,
and Official PlayStation Magazine
National pre-sell programs at select game retailers, where gamers
can pre-order a copy of Blitz: The League and receive The Blitz
Cheerleaders 2006 Calendar featuring the Models of FHM for free
(Limited time offer, while supplies last)
Dedicated web presence at www.blitzleague.com, the official website
of Blitz: The League
Top-Tier Media Feedback:
"Blitz delivers action as dirty as the mud in the end zone with a
story that charges gamers to turn a down-and-out football franchise
into a dynasty. Stuff Magazine
"It’s football like you’ve never seen and the NFL hopes you never
will." – Spin
"Midway Games Inc. has created a video game the National Football
League would never allow." – Chicago Tribune
"Promises to take the [football videogame] genre in very new, very
interesting directions." – Official Xbox Magazine
"The League will depict a side of the sport fans don’t often see." –
GamePro
"Blitz: The League will include all the things the NFL doesn't want
you to think about." – San Jose Mercury News
"Bone-breaking, skull-smashing football that’s what Blitz is all
about." – PlayStation Magazine
About Blitz: The League
Blitz: The League will feature a powerful story mode that, for the
first time ever in a football videogame, explores the lifestyle and
drama found in professional football. Players will take the helm of
a downtrodden football franchise and retool the players and coaching
staff in a quest to guide them to the league championship.
Additional features include intense multiplayer action with
head-to-head online play and complete customization options of
players, teams, stadiums and more.
About Midway Games
Headquartered in Chicago, IL with offices in San Diego, CA, Seattle,
WA, Austin, TX, Los Angeles, CA, Munich, Germany, London, UK, and
Adelaide, AUS, Midway Games Inc. (NYSE:MWY) is a leading developer
and publisher of interactive entertainment software for major video
game systems and personal computers. More information about Midway
can be obtained at www.midway.com.
MIDWAY, BLITZ and BLITZ: THE LEAGUE are trademarks of Midway
Amusement Games, LLC. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are
registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Xbox is a
registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States
and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of
their respective companies. Midway has provided the Yahoo.com,
ESPN.com, Gamespot.com, IGN.com and WWE.com links solely as a
convenience for you. The information on these sites has been
prepared by third parties, and Midway does not monitor, endorse, or
accept responsibility for the content on non-Midway sites.
This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning
future business conditions and the outlook for Midway Games Inc.
(the "Company") based on currently available information that
involves risks and uncertainties. The Company's actual results could
differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking
statements as a result of these risks and uncertainties, including,
without limitation, the financial strength of the interactive
entertainment industry, dependence on new product introductions and
the ability to maintain the scheduling of such introductions, the
upcoming console platform transition and other technological
changes, dependence on major platform manufacturers and other risks
more fully described under "Item 1. Business - Risk Factors" in the
Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31,
2004, and in the more recent filings made by the Company with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.