Portalarium Announces Commercial Launch of its First Game, Sweet @$! Poker, on Facebook

Texas Hold ‘Em card game rising in popularity; marks company’s initial offering in fast growing social media space

AUSTIN, Texas, March 10, 2010 — With the declaration of its formation as a company less than a month old, officials with Portalarium™, Inc., announced today that its first game, Sweet @$! Poker™, is now in commercial launch. The game is available on Facebook® and during its short beta cycle of only five weeks has already zoomed to become the 12th most popular poker app on Facebook (out of 47 total) and the 32nd most popular Facebook card game overall (out of 200+ total).

Ex-NCsoft staffers and gaming veterans producer/programmer Stephen Nichols and artist James Cleaveland, two of the lead creators behind the acclaimed Dungeon Runners™ online game, are the creative minds behind Sweet @$! Poker and have now joined Portalarium on a full-time basis.

Sweet @$! Poker utilizes The Portalarium Player™, an innovative new cross-platform web browser plug-in that permits games developed on a wide variety of game engines and technologies – not just the pervasive Adobe Flash platform – to run seamlessly inside of the major popular social networks. It means a more premium game experience for games played through The Player, bridging the gap between premium games and social networks.

“There are more than 400-million active users on Facebook,” says Nichols. “At least one Texas Hold ‘Em game on Facebook already boasts more than 27-million people playing each month. We feel there is plenty of room for us to move in and grab a share of that market and present a poker game with a much richer play experience.”

“Players will immediately notice the simpler, cleaner user interface,” says Cleaveland. “And the social tools that we’ve created allow for a much more fun, interactive session each time you virtually sit down at one of our tables. Finding your friends and asking them to play with you has never been easier.”

The free-to-play game provides players with a steady flow of free chips to startincluding daily bonuses and achievement rewards. Players also have the ability to purchase chips, buy each other virtual drinks and snacks and earn achievements. Sweet @$! Poker welcomes players to its "lobby" area with a catchy, short, original soundtrack by Austin composer/musician, Will Taylor (of Strings Attached), and features Austin trumpet master Steve Zirkel.

For now, Sweet @$! Poker is available only for Windows PC users. But Macintosh compatibility will be coming soon as well as versions for MySpace, the iPhone and Android. Expect new features on a regular basis starting with tournament play, buddy lists, additional poker game varieties and, soon, even custom decorated tables.

More information about Portalarium can be found at http://www.portalarium.com.


About Portalarium
Formed in September of 2009 in Austin, Texas, Portalarium is a creative company that develops and publishes premium online games and virtual worlds for popular social networks and mobile platforms. The company’s goal is to foster people coming together for shared play, learning, good will and community. Additionally it wants to maximize the social play experience between friends, and to make it is easy and seamless for them to find each other online regardless of what they each may be doing.

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