EverQuest II and Star Wars Galaxies Get Voice Chat
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STATION VOICE POWERED BY VIVOX® MAKING WONDERFUL NOISE IN SONY ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT GAMES
EverQuest® II and Star Wars Galaxies Go Live With Free Voice Chat, EverQuest® to Follow Suit Soon
SAN DIEGO, Calif. July 31, 2008 Station Voice™, a service powered by Vivox® that allows players to talk to each other in online games, is now available in the role-playing games EverQuest® II and Star Wars Galaxies™, Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE), announced today. Station Voice, which is scheduled to be available next month in EverQuest, is available for players at no additional cost with their current subscription plan.
(In-game voice chat is an enhanced new feature gamers of all levels can enjoy. Now, SOE's players can easily talk to one another and better enjoy the online gaming experience,) said John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment. (The integration of Station Voice into these initial games was seamless, and we look forward to incorporating this added gaming experience into other SOE titles, as well as implementing the next phase of features to come soon.)
The initial launch of Station Voice will allow players to:
'¢ Talk person-to-person in game with any microphone and headset combo
'¢ Chat with their party, guild or any other group in game
'¢ Play and communicate without worry of a significant increase in game lag
'¢ Manage group/user participation with moderator controls
'¢ Individually mute and set volume per user
'¢ Set up easily without the need for separate software, accounts or registration
(SOE's commitment to the player experience and their game communities is unrivalled and presents an incredible opportunity to demonstrate the power of voice,) said Rob Seaver, CEO of Vivox. (Through a magnificent implementation, SOE has delivered high quality voice chat, seamless access, instant groups, intuitive controls and a fantastic and immersive experience for their players.)
In addition to these current features, SOE is planning to implement other Vivox services into Station Voice later this year, such as voice fonts and the ability to connect to games from Station Launcher. SOE's plan to integrate the service with Station Launcher should allow anyone who uses the Station Launcher, even if he or she doesn't otherwise subscribe to an SOE game, to take advantage of these powerful voice chat capabilities. These features, which are intended to support hundreds of players in a channel, are also slated to be extended to other current and future SOE titles, such as The Agencyâ„¢.
For specific details and tips on how to use Station Voice in each game, log onto www.station.sony.com/stationvoice/
About Vivox, Inc.
Based in Framingham, MA and founded in 2005, Vivox is the leading provider of community-building voice services for online games and virtual worlds. Supporting millions of users in more than 180 countries, the Vivox Network is the world's largest voice network for gamers. Vivox customers include online game and virtual world developers and publishers such as CCP Games, Icarus Studios, Linden Lab, NCsoft, Sony Online Entertainment and Wizards of the Coast. For more information on Vivox and the power of voice, visit www.vivox.com
About Sony Online Entertainment
Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) is a recognized worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online games, with hundreds of thousands of subscribers around the globe. SOE creates, develops and provides compelling entertainment for the personal computer, online, game console and wireless markets. Known for its blockbuster franchises and hit titles including EverQuest®, EverQuest® II, Champions of Norrath®, Untold Legends™, and PlanetSide®, as well as for developing Star Wars Galaxies™, SOE continues to redefine the business of online gaming and the creation of active player communities while introducing new genres on various entertainment platforms. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, with additional development studios in Austin, TX, Seattle, WA, Denver, CO, and Taiwan, SOE has an array of cutting-edge games in development.
About LucasArts
LucasArts, a Lucasfilm Ltd. company, is a leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software worldwide for video game console systems, computers and the Internet. Based in San Francisco, Calif., as well as on the Internet at www.lucasarts.com, LucasArts was created in 1982 by George Lucas to provide an interactive element to his vision of a state-of-the-art, multifaceted entertainment company.
