TORNADO GROUP PLC AND CODEMASTERS PARTNER TO OFFER THE NEW MISSION PACK FOR OPERATION FLASHPOINT ONLINE


monday 21 january 2002
Tornado Group PLC and Codemasters partner to offer the new mission pack for Operation Flashpoint online

Codemasters choose Tornado Group PLC to provide an episodal download of the Gold Upgrade, incorporating the Red Hammer mission, for No 1 best selling PC game ‘Operation Flashpoint’, to the gaming community

Tornado Group PLC (“LSE: TDO”), Europe's leading Digital Service Provider, and Codemasters, the leading developer and publisher of best-selling interactive entertainment products have launched the Gold Upgrade, incorporating the Red Hammer mission, for the No 1 best selling PC game ‘Operation Flashpoint’ as a download on the Codemasters website (www.codemasters.com).

The Operation Flashpoint game has sold in excess of 850,000 copies worldwide and its latest version, Flashpoint Gold, is currently in the Top 10 in the gaming charts, enjoying virtual cult status with many online gaming groups dedicated to it. The new mission pack, which is also available as a boxed product retailing for £9.99, is being offered online, via the Tornado system, for £4.99.

The Tornado Digital Media Distribution System (“DMDS”) technology, which is being deployed to provide the Gold Upgrade download worldwide, is a secure data storage and delivery solution that encodes the download and wraps it with the appropriate Digital Rights Management (DRM). Macrovision’s Safecast DRM technology which has been incorporated ensures copyright security for the content and allows the content providers to set their own usage rules for downloads, for example, whether a file can be re-installed, passed to a friend or copied to disk. The Tornado Digital Media Distribution System also provides the credit card payment gateway (which supports 7 languages) and also digitally delivers the file to the gamers’ PC. Tornado receives a distribution fee for every Redhammer mission pack delivered online.

The large file sizes involved with modern games had made most believe that the exploitation of interactive games software in a digital environment would need to await the launch of broadband services. However, the launch of this service by Tornado reflects the roll out of its strategy to provide games publishers with the technology appropriate to their needs to allow them to exploit their assets now rather than await broadband. Tornado is working in partnership with a substantial proportion of the interactive games market, and is holding further discussions with a number of these games publishers about the possibilities for exploiting their content online utilising techniques such as additional levels, new characters and mission packs. These all consist of smaller file sizes and are therefore quicker and easier to download and enhance and extend the life of the game.

“This is a real first for Codemasters – supplying additional gameplay as a pay-for-download and we’re delighted with the Tornado Digital Media Distribution System.” commented Neil Ralley, Codemasters’ Director of European Sales. “Operation Flashpoint is one of the most successful games of the year and it’s great to be able to offer a pay-for-download alternative in addition to the usual retail channels.”

“We are delighted with the initial uptake for the Gold Upgrade online,” commented Neil Ferris, Commercial Director of Tornado Group PLC. “This further strengthens our belief in the games download market and episodal downloads in particular.”