Famed for such titles as “Defender of the Crown”, “Wings” and “It Came From The Desert”, celebrated developer Cinemaware today opened a new chapter in its illustrious history with confirmation to sell substantially all of its assets to eGames, Inc.

Originally founded in 1985 Cinemaware made a name for themselves amongst C64, Amiga, Apple IIGS, NES and PC gamers alike with titles such as those listed above and the likes of “Rocket Ranger”, “Lords of the Rising Sun” and “The Three Stooges”. The hardware shifts during the late 80’s and early 90’s proved to be a tough time with Cinemaware Corporation however closing its doors in 1991 to fans consternation.

Upon the acquisition of the Cinemaware interactive entertainment software trademark and intellectual properties owned by Cinemaware Corporation in 2000, Lars Fuhrken-Batista resurrected the publisher as Cinemaware, Inc. however future releases failed to garnish the same sort of success the second time around.

The agreement between eGames, Inc. and Cinemaware, Inc. is expected to close before the end of October and will see eGames issue between 600,000 and 855,000 shares of its common stock in exchange for Cinemaware’s assets.

"By joining forces with an established publisher such as eGames, we will now be able to reach a larger market and explore the full potential of Cinemaware's past and future intellectual properties on a much wider platform range. In the current transition phase the game industry is going through, it was very important for me to find a suitable partner for future Cinemaware products, and I am happy to be a part of the eGames team as we move forward with new product releases," said Cinemaware President Lars Fuhrken-Batista.

Jerry Klein, President and CEO of eGames, commented, "The original Cinemaware group spurred a revolution in game design and presentation by combining highly entertaining and accessible game play set in familiar film genres and using unique cinematic presentation techniques. Under Lars' leadership, Cinemaware embarked on a multi-platform product development strategy with special focus on next generation video game consoles and hand-held formats, as well as personal computers and online markets. Cinemaware's unique franchises and intellectual property were used to bring its compelling and immersive game style to today's gamers. With his background in film production and video game development, Lars was uniquely qualified to re-launch Cinemaware in 2000. We're privileged and excited to have a person with his capabilities join eGames to lead our development to its next stage of growth."

Rich Siporin, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for eGames added, "eGames continues to enjoy success within the value priced, casual game arena, and our strategy remains focused on growing this segment of our business. It is clear, however, that we now need to take advantage of new and different product genres and platforms that have mass-market appeal. Cinemaware not only provides the opportunity to venture into higher priced PC titles, it provides us with the opportunity to launch titles into established and growing console and handheld markets."

"The Cinemaware acquisition gives us flexibility to be a viable player within the entire game marketplace versus just the casual gaming segment," Siporin added. "Our strategy has always been to merge with or acquire a complementary partner to expand our business and increase our importance to consumers, retailers and distributors. Ultimately, we plan to become a full service publisher reaching all gaming segments within the entire video game industry. Cinemaware is an additive opportunity for eGames. It is entirely incremental to our existing business and provides us with an important source of proprietary brands and intellectual properties which will be instrumental in our future development plans."