May 4, 2006

CODEMASTERS REVEALS STYLISH, CASUAL ACTION PUZZLE GAME BLISS ISLAND

Bliss Island to evolve from free-play web game to downloadable try-before-you-buy PC title, to handheld console systems

Accessible, frantic, fun, yet fiendishly compulsive, Codemasters announced today its latest signing Bliss Island, an original mass-appeal action puzzler, that will appear across a range of formats, starting from a web game to console systems.

To introduce the title, Bliss Island will receive a unique rollout. Starting today, three sample stages appear as a free-to-play web game on Funsta.com, Codemasters’ casual gaming portal. For a moment of bliss, visit www.funsta.com/bliss. 

Later in May, Bliss Island will be available as a graphically enhanced ‘try-before-you-buy’ downloadable PC casual game, featuring over 90 game stages from five very different game modes. The game will then evolve further and launch for handheld console systems later this year.

Bliss Island is an original funky, competitive and accessible interactive entertainment property created by and licensed from Pompom Software, a London-based studio that focuses on accessible gaming concepts with distinctive visual styling. Pompom’s previous games include the award-winning blaster Mutant Storm.

In the game, players will take on the role of Hoshi the Zwooph, a small blue fluffy creature with a long trunk, as he competes in loads of mini games that revolve around his unique ability to expel precision puffs of air at high velocity from his trunk – the game’s signature and unique gameplay mechanic.

Hoshi’s great puffs can be used to bounce or control objects in the game world to complete individual challenges, such as diverting pieces of falling fruit into hungry mouths or blowing creatures around an obstacle course. Gamers will compete against other Zwooph and if Hoshi wins the games he competes in, it will be Bliss.

“Signing Bliss Island is a key development in Codemasters’ activities in the casual gaming space. By bringing outstanding original product into the mix it strengthens Funsta.com’s attraction as an online destination for casual players,” said Nick Pili, Codemasters’ director of casual gaming. “Extending the title and making it available as a casual try-before-you-buy downloadable PC game, then as a full title to handheld consoles, gives the game an organic expansion as the audience for the game grows.”

“Codemasters immediately understood the potential of Bliss Island and we’re delighted to be working with a company that shares our vision of ‘gameplay first’ games, as well as one that shows such innovative thinking in the way it plans to grow the audience and Bliss Island brand,” said Michael Michael of Pompom Software.

Prepare for your time on Bliss Island with the web game and more online at www.funsta.com/bliss

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