FIFA Online Ignites Korean Interest News

EA today scooped yet another award to add to the burgeoning wardrobe of accolades, setting a new record for online games in Korea with FIFA Online. Based upon internal data, FIFA online has beaten all records for online games in the country, including fantasy and racing titles, and setting a new record for the most Peak Concurrent Users (PCU) in its opening month.

Establishing a new record for the biggest opening weekend of 33,000 PCUs, FIFA Online went on to achieve over 50,000 in the first 11 days and over 100,000 during the first 23 days, as South Koreans made amends for their country's early exit in the World Cup.

Built upon the venerable FIFA series, FIFA Online features both Matchplay and Career modes, along with extensive community features such as in-game chat, online persistency and match-making capabilities - let's just hope they can translate some of the online functionality to FIFA over here.

"We are tremendously proud of EA SPORTS FIFA Online. This is the launch of our online gaming strategy in Korea and we are emboldened by these phenomenal results. In its first month, the game already has terrific momentum, a passionate fan base and a very promising start. It has also been very rewarding to work with such a high caliber local partner as Neowiz," said Jon Niermann, President, EA Asia Publishing.

Mr. Sung Kyun Na, President of Neowiz, said, "EA SPORTS FIFA Online is the first online game title in Korea, to reach such staggering success so early by surpassing 100,000 open beta users. It is also the first successful case of a converted PC packaged goods title to an online game. Both are unprecedented in online game history." He added, "Since EA SPORTS FIFA Online is based on a simulated game that is internationally popular and an easy-to-understand sport, we hope this wonderful result bodes well for the global game in the future."