REDWOOD CITY, Calif. --Oct. 13, 1999--Electronic Arts (Nasdaq:ERTS), the world's largest interactive entertainment software company, along with Hollywood Records, today announced that the title song to the Knockout Kings 2000 boxing video game will be performed by the hip-hop rap artist "O."
    The title song In the Game will be the lead single from O's debut album, Full Circle: The Story of O. Electronic Arts also provided several boxing champions that appear with O during the In the Game music video.
    Knockout Kings 2000 shipped on the Nintendo 64 game console yesterday. The PlayStation(R) version ships in early November and the Game Boy Color version in late November. O's enhanced single In the Game ships on Oct. 19.
    Already added to the rotation on video music television networks MTV and BET, the In the Game video features O surrounded by some of the most famous boxing personalities in history. Smokin' Joe Frazier, Sugar Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather all appear in the music video, along with famous referee Mills Lane.
    The video features the boxers interacting with O in a rapper tournament set in a boxing environment. Frazier, Mosley, Mayweather and Lane are all in Knockout Kings 2000, along with numerous other licensed boxers including Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Oscar De La Hoya and Evander Holyfield.
    "The kid is quick and smooth on the mike," said former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier about the rapper O. "I've done a little singing myself, so I know a thing or two about talent."
    "The lines between the video game industry and the music industry are blurring," said Michael Pole, vice president and executive in charge of production, Electronic Arts.
    "EA and Hollywood Records are leading the charge to merge the worlds of video games and music to provide young people with a superior product. We're combining the best and most exciting elements of boxing, music and video games in a way that's never been done before."
    Last year's Knockout Kings on the PlayStation became the best selling boxing video game in the history of the industry, according to TRSTS Video Game Report, published by the NPD group.
    Electronic Arts and Hollywood Records have also teamed on ways to cross-promote each other's product. Consumers who buy the enhanced In the Game CD will receive credit for $5 off Knockout Kings 2000.
    In print ads for Knockout Kings 2000 EA will make reference to the O enhanced single, which in turn contains a preview of the video game and a hot link to the EA SPORTS web site. Hollywood Records ads will state the album features the theme song to Knockout Kings 2000, and the video game will include a special animated O boxer.
    "Hollywood Records' Urban and EA SPORTS share a common consumer base and a willingness to experiment with new and innovative ways to market and promote our products," said Michael S. Traylor, senior vice president and general manager of urban music, Hollywood Records.
    Byron Phillips, same title as Traylor, adds, "To that end, we believe a cross-promotional marriage presents a unique opportunity to simultaneously showcase an incredible artist while using music to promote one of the most innovative games in the marketplace."
    "We've found that the music can be as important as the visual elements when it comes to setting a mood and a tone for a game," said Rick Giolito, supervising producer, Electronic Arts. "The crossover between hip hop fans and sports video game fans is huge so it makes perfect sense for EA to work with Hollywood Records to bring a cutting edge sound to our games."
    EA SPORTS (TM) (www.easports.com) is the leading interactive sports software brand in the world. Its top-selling titles and franchises include FIFA Soccer, John Madden Football(TM), NHL(R) Hockey, Knockout Kings(TM), NBA LIVE Basketball, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR(R) Golf, Triple Play Baseball(TM) and NASCAR(R) 99.
    Electronic Arts, headquartered in Redwood City, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, Electronic Arts posted revenues of more than $1.2 billion for fiscal 1999. The company develops, publishes and distributes software worldwide for personal computers and video game systems.
    Electronic Arts markets its products under seven brand names: Electronic Arts, EA SPORTS, Maxis(TM), Origin Systems(TM), Bullfrog(TM) Productions, Ltd., Westwood Studios(TM) and Jane's(R) Combat Simulations. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://www.ea.com.

    Note to Editors: Electronic Arts, Knockout Kings, Origin Systems, Bullfrog, Westwood Studios, Maxis, EA SPORTS, John Madden Football and Triple Play Baseball are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts in the U.S. and/or other countries. Jane's is a registered trademark of Jane's Information Group Ltd. Muhammad Ali provided courtesy of G.O.A.T. Inc. NBA, NHL, NFL, Super Bowl, FIFA, Tiger Woods, PGA TOUR and NASCAR are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners and are used under license. Nintendo(R) 64 is a trademark and Game Boy is a registered trademark of Nintendo of America Inc. PlayStation is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

CONTACT:
EA SPORTS
Redwood City
Charlie Scibetta, 650/628-7537 (PR Manager)
cscibetta@ea.com