LONDON, Aug. 9, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Empire Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of Silverstar Holdings (Nasdaq:SSTR), has granted five-year, exclusive worldwide licensing rights to XENDEX Holding GmbH, a global mobile entertainment company, to develop, publish and distribute a selection of Empire's leading titles on the mobile platform.
Empire's FlatOut series forms the cornerstone of the agreement, which also includes FlatOut 2, FlatOut Ultimate Carnage, Big Mutha Truckers, BMT Truck Me Harder and Combat Chess. These titles will be developed in 3D and 2D, so more than 500 handset options in five languages -- English, French, Italian, German and Spanish -- can be supported.
The FlatOut franchise, with its unique action style arcade-racing format, has sold more than 2.5 million units worldwide. The latest incarnation, FlatOut Ultimate Carnage, has been a Top 5 seller in Europe since launching in late June. It will be released in North America later this year. The hugely successful U.S. hit, Big Mutha Truckers, shipped over 2 million units. Combat Chess is an ingenious tournament level chess boardgame played with battling animated characters.
"Empire has great plans for the FlatOut franchise," said Rob Noble, Empire European's marketing manager. "We have ambitious goals to develop and grow this successful franchise across new markets and reach new consumers. More people are getting into the habit of playing quick games on their mobile devices to entertain themselves for short bursts of time, and this will be the first time an adaptation of these two popular racing franchises will be available on mobile phones. The games will stay true to the spirit of the originals, with plenty of racing carnage and arcade mayhem."
Michael Haberl, Xendex's founder and CEO, added, "These will be our most demanding racing games yet to be transformed into a mobile game. We have released more than 40 mobile games and our latest technology will compliment the gameplay style of these first three titles." Empire expects to license additional titles in the coming months.
About Empire Interactive
Empire Interactive has been a leading publisher of interactive entertainment software for nearly two decades. Headquartered in the UK, Empire Interactive also has offices in the U.S., Germany, France, Spain and Italy. The company develops and publishes a varied range of titles for all current platforms in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Games such as Starsky & Hutch, Big Mutha Truckers, Ford Racing and FlatOut have all enjoyed success across the world. Its budget label, Xplosiv, is one of the fastest growing in Europe. Further information about Empire Interactive and its products can be found at www.empireinteractive.com.
About Silverstar Holdings:
Silverstar Holdings Ltd. is a leading international publisher and developer of interactive entertainment software. It currently owns Empire Interactive, PLC and Strategy First, Inc., a leading development and worldwide publisher of entertainment software for the PC.
About XENDEX Holding GmbH:
XENDEX Holding GmbH is a leading mobile entertainment company focused on the highest quality in mobile games and mobile content. Xendex was founded in 2001 by Michael Haberl and has more than 45 employees across five offices located in Austria, Europe and the U.S. Xendex offers 40 highly popular game titles and more than 25 casino games. Xendex's Nate Adams Freestyle Motocross - O2 U was heralded by one of Europe's largest mobile network operators as the best mobile game in 2005. Xendex has also produced branded games for marquee customers, including A1 Vodafone, Head, Coca-Cola light, Disney, and Generali.
The statements which are not historical facts contained in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve certain risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to risks associated with the uncertainty of future financial results, additional financing requirements, development of new products, regulatory approval processes, the impact of competitive products or pricing, technological changes, the effect of economic conditions and other uncertainties detailed in the Silverstar Holdings' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.