Social Media Portal

Family and Friends Can Finally Play Together in Real-Time from Any Social Network and Across the Web

Online Gaming Community Offers MMO-Style Chat, Teams, Matches, More

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Helping the world play together, Mytopia™ is the first online social gaming community where everyone can enjoy classic games with one another across different social networks and Internet sites. Over 200 million people play casual games each month over the Internet, representing a $2.25 billion a year industry.* For these players and the rest, today’s official launch of Mytopia takes casual online games like Chess, Spades, and Sudoku to the next level for the modern social web:

• Mytopia first to end social network segregation in casual gaming. From any online entry point, members of virtually all social networks and widgets can play and chat together, in real time, as well as play with friends, family and acquaintances that don’t belong to any social network at all. At launch, users can play across Facebook, MySpace and Bebo, as well as Apple Dashboard Widgets, iGoogle Gadgets, Microsoft Vista Toolbar Widgets and Yahoo! Widgets, or from Mytopia.com.
• Mytopia expands online gaming audience. Socially engaging, easily accessible, classic games attract players from around the world, young and old, male and female, who fall outside the traditional “gamer” niche. For example, 51.7% of casual game players are women, making up 74% of paying casual gamers.*
• Mytopia offers first casual gaming MMO for social networks. Virtual economy, teams and matches, and other immersive social features usually limited to hard-core massive multiplayer online games bring camaraderie and competition to classic board, parlor and casino games.

“Finally, we can all just play together,” said Guy Ben-Artzi, founder and chief executive officer of Mytopia. “Games have been connecting people around the world for centuries, but until now, people who play games on the web have been sandboxed into their respective networks. Mytopia unleashes the true social potential of games by creating a seamless gaming community that everyone can enjoy.”

Meet Me in Mytopia

To play games in Mytopia, users log in to the community from their social networks – including Facebook, MySpace and Bebo, or directly through www.mytopia.com. When they arrive in Mytopia, users will find a feature-rich digital playground that includes:

• Classic Games: Eight games in the Club House (Chess, Backgammon, Sudoku, Dominoes, Bingo), Card Room (Spades, Hearts) and Casino (Video Poker), with new games added monthly;
• Town Hall: Lets users see who is online and their login locations, read and post to message boards, get help, and view and sort the dynamic Hall of Fame by what matters to them most;
• Home: Houses friend lists and friends of friends, customizable profile and avatar creation, in-game items inventory, chat histories, messages (instant or offline) and privacy settings; and
• Shop: Lets users trade their points for virtual goods and real-world prizes, including gift certificates to popular online stores, such as Amazon and iTunes.

For maximum flexibility, in the near future, users can log in with their existing social network profiles, and import friends and contacts to Mytopia. Users don’t have to create a new account and build their community from scratch to enjoy the games with friends and family from around the web.

Anyone familiar with massive multiplayer online games will find Mytopia incorporates their best community features, including hundreds of skill levels, experience points, teams, virtual currency, vibrant in-game economy and the ability to trade in points for inventory items. The community brings traditionally hard-core game features to the world of familiar classic games that are accessible to everyone. Now, players can communicate, socialize and compete as seriously or casually as they choose.

Mytopia Prepares for the Masses

One look at industry figures suggests Mytopia is the right community at the right time. “Despite the growing popularity of YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook, online gaming remains the king of online entertainment, driven largely by online casual gaming activities,” said James Kuai, a research analyst at Parks Associates.

Continued Ben-Artzi, “Social networks are introducing online games to people who typically don’t consider themselves ‘gamers.’ These users want titles they can play with classmates, colleagues and children alike. The traditional gaming market has largely overlooked these new users, but Mytopia is targeting new gamers with timeless, socially engaging titles that everybody knows and loves. There is no substitute for human competition, and nothing beats playing with people you like.”

In fact, Mytopia is setting its sights on social network members and beyond. In addition to MySpace, Facebook, et al., users will be able to discover and join Mytopia via popular widget directories, including Apple Dashboard Widgets, iGoogle Gadgets, Microsoft Vista Toolbar Widgets and Yahoo! Widgets, among others.

Widgets have changed the game for both users and developers, by allowing content to be sent to and discovered by existing communities around the web. With widgets, users no longer need to hunt for the games they want. Instead, Mytopia sends games to the users, wherever they already spend time online. For game developers, Mytopia’s patent-pending technology allows them to write code once and simultaneously deploy content throughout the entire widget universe and social networking space, including Facebook’s F8 and Google’s Open Social platforms.

Mytopia is currently in public beta. To register for a free account and learn more, please visit www.mytopia.com.

^* Casual Games Association (CGA) Casual Games 2007 Report

Resources

Mytopia Corporate Fact Sheet: http://www.mytopia.com/press/Mytopia_Corporate_FactSheet.doc

Mytopia Press PowerPoint: http://www.mytopia.com/press/Mytopia_PPT.ppt

Mytopia Exec Bios: http://www.mytopia.com/press/Mytopia_Exec_Bios_with_Photos.doc

Mytopia Executive Photos: http://www.mytopia.com/press/Mytopia_Exec_Photos.zip

Mytopia Homepage Screenshots: http://www.mytopia.com/press/Mytopia_Homepage_Screenshots.zip

Mytopia Game and Community Screenshots: http://www.mytopia.com/press/Mytopia_Additional_Screenshots.zip

Mytopia Corporate Logos: http://www.mytopia.com/press/Mytopia_Logos.zip

Mytopia Press Kit (all of the above): http://www.mytopia.com/press/Mytopia_Presskit.zip

About Mytopia

Helping the world play together, Mytopia, Inc. has created the first social gaming community where users on virtually every social network, every widget community, any blog or site, and Mytopia.com can seamlessly play classic games together in real-time. In this virtual world, players from across the web gather in the Casino, Card Room, and Club House to enjoy time-honored, classic, multiplayer games. Founded in 2007, Mytopia is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. For more information, please visit http://www.mytopia.com.

Mytopia is a trademark of Mytopia, Inc. All other names, brands, or products may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Mytopia, Inc.
Galia Ben-Artzi, +1 650-269-9992
Galia@Mytopia.com
or
TECHMarket Communications
Marisa Lam, +1 650-544-3350 (Media)
Marisa@TECHMarket.com