EA ANNOUNCES THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE LORD OF THE RINGS, THE BATTLE FOR MIDDLE-EARTH FOR THE PC

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., September 22, 2003 - The battle for Middle-earth is about to begin… Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) officially announced today the development of The Lord of the Rings™, The Battle for Middle-earth™ for the PC under the EA GAMES™ brand. Developed at EA Los Angeles by the same team that created the award-winning real-time strategy (RTS) PC hits Commander & Conquer™ Red Alert™ 2 and Command & Conquer ™ Generals, The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth game will capture the epic battles from The Lord of the Rings films and deliver them to PC gamers in summer 2004.

"The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth will give gamers the first chance to play the epic battles they've witnessed in Peter Jackson's films," said Mark Skaggs, VP and Executive Producer of the game. "Fans will be able to immerse themselves in Middle Earth and experience The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy like never before, including controlling the evil side of the conflict."

The Battle for Middle-earth utilizes the Generals game engine, and in the game players can select from the different "good" or "evil" campaigns, where they will be given the freedom to command a variety of major armies from the films, each with their own distinct strengths and weaknesses. Prepare for war by creating offensive and defensive strategies set in the memorable battle locations taken straight from the big screen. The Battle for Middle-earth RTS game will utilize the digital assets created for the films and will feature exclusive voiceover from the real actors as well as actual movie footage from the three films.

Under an exclusive licensing agreement with New Line Cinema, EA has the rights to create and publish interactive entertainment games based on the movie trilogy. The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth will be the third EA title released under its The Lord of the Rings franchise. The upcoming The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King game based on the final movie will release in November 2003 on multiple platforms. For more information on EA's The Lord of the Rings games, visit the official franchise website at: http://lordoftherings.eagames.com.

ABOUT ELECTRONIC ARTS Electronic Arts, headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, Electronic Arts posted revenues of $2.5 billion for fiscal 2003. The company develops, publishes and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under three brand names: EA SPORTS™, EA GAMES™, and EA SPORTS BIG™. 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.

ABOUT NEW LINE CINEMA Founded in 1967, New Line Cinema is the entertainment industry's leading independent producer and distributor of theatrical motion pictures. New Line licenses its films to ancillary markets including cable and broadcast television as well as to international venues. The company, which is a subsidiary of AOL Time Warner Inc., operates several divisions including in-house theatrical distribution, marketing, home video, television, acquisition, production, licensing and merchandising units. More information about New Line Cinema can be obtained at www.newline.com. For further press information about New Line Cinema's merchandising program, contact Stephanie Baumoel or Sheila Feren at FerenComm, 212.983.9898.

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