Former EA Executive Eric Hartness Joins PlaySpan as Chief Marketing Officer

Senior Video Game Industry Executive Brings Proven Marketing and Business Development Expertise to In-game Commerce Pioneer

(SANTA CLARA, CA) – February 12, 2009 – PlaySpan, the game industry’s first publisher-sponsored in-game commerce network, today announced it has hired Eric Hartness as its chief marketing officer. In his new role, Eric leads PlaySpan’s Marketplace and microtransaction platfom marketing efforts.

Eric joins PlaySpan after almost nine years with Electronic Arts where he was most recently Vice President of Marketing for its Redwood Shores studio and hit games Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, The Simpsons Game, The Godfather, and Dead Space. Previously, Eric led EA’s digital distribution and subscription businesses developing new online revenue streams and maximizing existing ones.

“I am extremely pleased to have Eric on the PlaySpan team. As the industry moves beyond game subscriptions and legacy payment models, Eric’s experience will be a critical component to extending our industry leadership position,” said Karl Mehta, CEO and co-founder of PlaySpan. “We’re ready to take micropayments and microtransactions to mainstream gamers, virtual worlds, and social network users around the world.”

“Virtual goods and microtransactions are rapidly being adopted by consumers worldwide and PlaySpan is the clear industry leader, focused on enabling publishers, virtual worlds, and social networks to capitalize on the trend and generate significant new revenue while adding value to their users,” said Mr. Hartness. “I am absolutely thrilled to join PlaySpan and help its partners expand their business models through both direct to consumer and player to player commerce.”

Prior to joining PlaySpan and his aforementioned tenure with EA, Eric worked as a consultant with Acxiom and A.T. Kearney, where he developed CRM strategies for The GM Card, OnStar, GM Canada, and Sears. Eric also held marketing positions with R.L. Polk, Entergy, and Mattel. Eric received a BSBA from the University of Arkansas, Magna Cum Laude, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

About PlaySpan, Inc.

PlaySpan is the game industry’s first publisher-sponsored in-game commerce network. PlaySpan’s patent-pending in-game search, commerce and micropayment technologies enable game publishers and developers to generate new revenues, acquire new users and extend the loyalty of existing users. Leading game providers and virtual world publishers have selected PlaySpan as their official marketplace for virtual goods. For more information about PlaySpan, visithttp://www.playspan.com/.

PlaySpan is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices in Charlottesville, Va, Cincinnati, Ohio and Mumbai. Investors include Easton Capital, Menlo Ventures, STIC and Novel TMT Ventures.

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