EA Sports to Launch New Tennis Title

By Joe Haygood | August 20, 2008

Beside giving me a good reason to post pictures of Jelena Jankovic, Electronic Arts has announced that they are starting a new tennis franchise

EA Tennis will first be coming to the Nintendo Wii platform in 2009, and will come out for other platforms shortly thereafter.  EA Tennis will be the first game from Electronic Arts to use the upcoming Wii Motion Plus attachment for the Wii remote.

Also, an Electronic Arts announcement would not be complete without some form of exclusivity, the new tennis game will be the only place where you will find All England Lawn Tennis Club, home of Wimbledon.

Check the jump for a full press release.

ANYONE FOR TENNIS? EA ANNOUNCES TENNIS FRANCHISE IN DEVELOPMENT
All-New EA SPORTS Franchise Is the Place to Play the Slams

GUILDFORD, UK. - August 20, 2008 - Electronic Arts Inc. (Nasdaq: ERTS) announced today that an all-new tennis videogame is in development at EA Canada in Vancouver under the EA SPORTS^TM brand. The EA SPORTS tennis franchise will be available first for the Wii^TM in 2009, followed by other platforms, and it will be the first EA SPORTS game that uses Nintendo’s upcoming Wii MotionPlus^TM accessory for the Wii Remote^TM that will give players a new level of accuracy and responsiveness.

“As we look to expand the EA SPORTS brand and captivate sports fans from around the world with rich new interactive experiences, it was obvious that the renaissance we’re seeing in the sport of tennis provides us with a big opportunity,” said Peter Moore, President, EA SPORTS. “Our new tennis franchise, coming first to the Wii, will put fans right into the action and provide the excitement, tension and drama that true champions feel in legendary matches - like the classic from Wimbledon just last month.”

EA SPORTS will bring tennis to life and allow players to experience the pressure and excitement of competing in the greatest theaters in the game, and it will be the only videogame to feature the All England Lawn Tennis Club - home of The Championships, Wimbledon. The all-new EA SPORTS tennis franchise will offer innovative ways to play, both as or against the greatest players from the past or present, letting you control the ball and work the court like you never have before in a tennis videogame.

For more information, please visit www.easports.com/tennis. The game has not yet been rated by the ESRB or PEGI.

EA SPORTS^TM is the leading interactive sports software brand in the world, with top-selling titles and franchises including Madden NFL Football, FIFA Soccer, NHL® hockey, NBA LIVE basketball, NCAA® Football, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® and NASCAR® racing.
About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world’s leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTSTM, EATM, EA SPORTS Freestyle TM and POGOTM. In fiscal 2008, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $3.67 billion and had 27 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA’s homepage and online game site is www.electronicarts.co.uk. More information about EA’s products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at www.electronicarts.co.uk/press.

EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS Freestyle, and POGO are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S and/or other countries. The Wimbledon Championships, The All England Lawn Tennis Club, John Madden, NFL, FIFA, NHL, NBA, NCAA, Tiger Woods, PGA TOUR and NASCAR are trademarks of their respective owners and used with permission. Wii is a trademark of Nintendo.