HORIZONS INKS PARTNERSHIP DEAL, TO BE DISTRIBUTED BY KOREAN MMORPG BEHEMOTH NCSOFT [Author: Lum the Mad]

Artifact Entertainment joins forces with the largest, most successful Massive Multiplayer Online Game Company in the world.

MESA, Arizona – May 11, 2001 \’e2\’80\ldblquote Artifact Entertainment Corporation announced today that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Korean behemoth NCsoft to publish and operate the eagerly anticipated MMOG known as HORIZONS throughout the Asian market. NCsoft, known for their incredibly popular game Lineage, has more than 2,000,000 active subscribers in Korea alone, making Lineage the most successful massive-multiplayer on-line game in the world. The agreement allows for the simultaneous release of HORIZONS in the North American and Asian markets with Artifact operating the North American servers and NCSoft operating the Asian servers. In addition to the licensing agreement, NCsoft has also made a substantial investment in Artifact Entertainment for the support and continued development of HORIZONS. The two companies will be working together closely to form a powerful alliance to push forward the Online Gaming services offered in both markets over the coming years.

“Everyone at Artifact is extremely excited about working with NCsoft \’e2\’80\ldblquote we will be focusing on the Asian market in conjunction with our US release, and addressing the international needs of massive-multiplayer on line games on a worldwide scale,\’e2\’80\’9d said David Allen, CEO and Founder of Artifact Entertainment. \’e2\’80\’9cWe couldn\’e2\’80\’99t have found a better partner to work with in the Asian market\’e2\’80\’9d

While details of the agreement or NCSoft’s and Artifact’s marketing strategies for HORIZONS have not yet been made public, players all over the world can be assured that the future of HORIZONS is not only bright, but will be carried out in many languages as well.