'The Lord of the Rings' Fans Rise Up! EA Ships The Lord of The Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth; One Game to Rule Them All!

LOS ANGELES -- Today game and film fans alike are picking sides to decide the fate of Middle-earth as Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS) announces the release of the eagerly-awaited PC game, The Lord of the Rings(TM), The Battle for Middle-earth(TM). Based on the Academy Award(R)-winning film trilogy, The Lord of the Rings fans will command the heroes and armies from all three movies as they find themselves immersed in the quest for domination of Middle-earth. Developed exclusively for the PC under the EA GAMES(TM) brand, The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth is a real-time strategy game (RTS) that will capture the imagination of both gamers and The Lord of the Rings fans, alike.

Choose your army! Gondor, Rohan, Mordor and Isengard are available and awaiting your command. Each with their own distinct heroes, strengths, and weaknesses, the battle for Middle-earth has commenced and players must lead their chosen army to victory. Prepare for war by creating offensive and defensive strategies set in the memorable battle locations taken straight from the big screen. The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth brings the stunning visuals and sounds of the films directly to the PC with extensive use of the movie's digital assets, film clips musical score, and voiceover from the real actors.

"Fans of The Lord of the Rings movies can't wait to get their hands on this game," commented Mark Skaggs, Vice President and Executive Producer at EA. "Imagine controlling all the strategies and tactics of the largest battles in Middle-earth. Even better: lead the forces of evil--if you so desire--in the quest for the One Ring! All the drama of the fiction is here, set to majestic visuals with meticulous detail and an incredible musical score."

Top gaming publications have already started to rave about The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth...

"A gloriously cinematic RTS game that matches the epic scale of the movies." - PC Gamer

"The ultimate fantasy strategy game." - Computer Gaming World 

"A bona fide triple-A title." - Game Informer

Officially licensed by New Line Cinema, The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth was developed at EA's Los Angeles studio. The game is rated "T" (Teen) with descriptor Violence by the ESRB and has a US MSRP of $49.99. For more information, please visit EA's press site at www.info.ea.com or the game's official web site www.eagames.com/official/lordoftherings/thebattleformiddleearth/us/ind ex.jsp . (Due to its length, this URL may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.)

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, EA posted revenues of $2.96 billion for fiscal 2004. The company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers and the Internet. In 2003, EA had 27 titles that sold more than one million copies. Electronic Arts markets its products under three brand names: EA SPORTS(TM), EA GAMES(TM) and EA SPORTS BIG(TM). EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com . More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.

Electronic Arts, EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS BIG and EA GAMES are trademarks or, registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. "The Lord of the Rings" and the names of the characters, items, events and places therein are trademarks of The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Tolkien Enterprises under license to New Line Productions, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

About New Line Cinema

New Line Cinema is the oldest and most successful independent film company in the world. In addition to the production, marketing and distribution of theatrical motion pictures, the fully-integrated studio has divisions devoted to home entertainment, television, music, theater, licensing, merchandising and international marketing and distribution. New Line is a pioneer in franchise filmmaking and its Oscar-winning The Lord of the Rings trilogy is the most successful film franchise in history. Together with its subsidiary, Fine Line Features, New Line is a unit of Time Warner. For further press information about New Line Cinema's merchandising program, please contact Stephanie Baumoel or Sheila Feren at FerenComm, 212-983-9898.