By Jen Thompson, GN Writer
It was announced today that both Electronic Arts and 2K Sports have extended their non-exclusive, multi-year licensing deals with the National Hockey League Player's Association. Unlike the NFL, which signed an exclusive 5 year deal with Electronic Arts in 2004, the NHL has now ensured fair competition in the industry between these two companies for years to come.
"NHL fans and consumers want more choices and extending our relationships with EA Sports and 2K Sports offers them the ability to choose the quality games they want to play," said Brian Jennings, NHL Senior Vice President of Consumer Products Marketing. "Video gaming technology is increasing our younger fans' abilities to connect with the per sonalities and athletic abilities of our players. And both EA Sports and 2K Sports have world-class development teams that successfully design games that continuously enhance that connection."
"We're excited to extend our relationship with EA and 2K Sports since they have long been on the cutting edge of the sports gaming category, and are now leading the way in the development of next generation,three-dimensional gaming," said Ken Kim, NHLPA Senior Director of Business. "NHL players are fans of these titles as well, and they, like the gamers, can't wait to see the year-to-year advances that are made to replicate the intensity of a real NHL game. We look forward to continued growth in the video game marketplace through these agreements."
This fall, Electronic Arts will release NHL 07 for current and next generation consoles and 2K Sports will publish NHL 2K7 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 next-generation game consoles, as well as current-generation systems.
