January 2006

1ST PAN-EUROPEAN 24/7 GAMING AND LIFESTYLE TV CHANNEL

GameStar TV is a new 24 / 7 cable, satellite, broadband, IPTV & mobile TV channel devoted to video gaming, culture and lifestyle; accessed anywhere, anytime and on any device.

GameStar is the vision of Al Gosling, founder of the Extreme Sports channel, which is now broadcast in 55 countries worldwide and Christophe Kourdouly. The new channel will be appeal to the heart of PC, console, mobile, the global internet, broadband, connected and wi-fi gaming phenomenon; Gamestar will split its focus with 60% on gaming and 40% on lifestyle covering music, fashion, sport etc

GameStarTV.com, the channel’s website and a dedicated gaming portal, will include an Interactive community for the gaming world, where gamers can meet, chat and collaborate. It will provide content on professional cyber athlete tournaments and gaming events worldwide and via a central portal, will deliver exclusive content about gaming, MMPORGs, lifestyle and culture with blogs, news and features. IPTV interactivity will allow users to watch live or pre-recorded GameStar programming whilst browsing the site simultaneously, plus operate interactive voting. That's not all, users will also be able to customise how they view programming from watching selected games at different angles, to personalising information tickers at base of screen and they will have direct access to the latest online libraries for Games, Hardware, Software, Video and Music content, plus mobile.

GameStar Store will be a worldwide online and TV retailing portal for the gaming sector. Stocked in the store will be the most up-to-date and second-hand games, hardware, software, men’s gadgets, gear and clothing. The store will also sell downloadable games for TV, PC and mobile users.

GameStar International, the TV distribution business, will sell eSports, cyber games and lifestyle programming to broadcasters by distributing third party and originally produced product and will work in conjunction with Extreme Entertainment, which has already built a reputation for delivering quality programmes to key broadcasters such as Discovery, C4, National Geographic, Extreme Sports Channel, Sony Columbia Tri-Star.

Gaming Industry facts:

· According to a 2005 report by Price Waterhouse Coopers, the games market is estimated to grow to $54.6 bn by 2009.
· The marketplace for virtual assets Is approaching $900m - IGE 2005
· Broadband subscriptions have now reached 200m worldwide - The Economist 2005

Gamestar – how it all began

What the heck is Gamestar and where did GameStar TV spring from? One mad Frenchman called Christophe Kourdouly, had been circulating some ideas about gaming, Europe and the universe as we know it, decided to speak to his good friend across the channel, Cosmo Spens. Apart from having a great name for the computer games industry (what were his parents smoking?), Cosmo was also old friends with Al Gosling, a mad Englishman, who had started the Extreme Group; the guys behind the Extreme Sports Channel (www.extrememediagroup.com). Cosmo and Christophe rocked up at Extreme's HQ in London and walked Al though the plan. It made sense - the explosion in online gaming, broadband mass penetration, cyber communities, games and athletes. The virtual world had crossed the extreme threshold. In walked another Frenchman, Thomas Ormond. Brought in by Christophe, Thomas was the President of Activision in Europe. The guys set about pulling together a name, brand and logo that would really fit with the vision of a 24/7 channel. With GameStar, the mission was to deliver the world of gaming to any portal, any place, any time and on any platform. Once sorted, they brought in another old friend (Cosmo's of course) called Bill Cunningham, from Endeavour ventures (www.endven.com), Teresa and Tarek from Access Media (www.accessmediaadvisory.com) to help find them some suitable partners to play with.

Whilst deliberating with the team as to where GameStar's HQ should be located, Al had just sold part of one of his other companies and decided to buy a catamaran. GameStar needed a HQ and Gamestar needed to position itself in the centre of a virtual world, so it was decided to base GameStar HQ on the boat. Under sail, in the right conditions, the custom-built catamaran can reach a top speed of 20 knots, (no gas guzzling floating hotels here). Satellite linked up to the eyeballs with a full broadband wireless network, she also has a GPS tracking device so you can see where GameStar HQ is, at any time via the web (coming soon). As Al still runs an Extreme Sports company, the boat as you’d expect also has on board all the latest kite surfing, windsurfing, surfboard and diving equipment that you could possibly need. Meetings will take on a whole new meaning.

GameStar is run by a bunch of guys who are into Gaming, Media and Extreme sports and are looking to build a different channel that will appeal not just to gamers and extreme sports fanatics alike, but also to anyone interested in the future of entertainment, sports, technology and life as we know it... available to anyone, any time, anywhere, on any device or on board.

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For further press info, high-res images, screengrabs or interviews contact:
Anna Penney, t: +44 (0) 207 244 1000; m: +44 (0) 7766 918900; e: anna@extreme.com. www.gamestartv.com

Notes to editors:

GameStar was founded and is run by a bunch of guys who are into Gaming, Media and Extreme sports and are looking to build a different channel that will appeal not just to gamers and extreme sports fanatics alike, but also to anyone interested in the future of entertainment, sports, technology and life as we know it... available to anyone, anywhere, any time, on any device or board.

GameStar TV is part of and backed by the Extreme Group, and will utilise Extreme Group’s infrastructure and worldwide network.

Al Gosling (34) – CEO, GameStar. Al is also CEO Extreme Group, which he set up in 1995 and founder of the Extreme Sports Channel. Passionate about the company and extreme sports, under his leadership the Extreme Group has built great brand presence and become one of the fastest growing companies in the sports, media, mobile and retail sectors. Today the group employs over 250 people and is active in more than 60 countries. www.extrememediagroup.com

Thomas Ormond (43) – Chairman, GameStar. With more than twenty years experience in the Video Gaming industry, he became Activision President for Europe in 1990, entering the US board in 1991. He joined Funsoft in 1993 as chairman for France where he developed hits such as “Men in Black and Actua soccer, tennis, followed by an appointment in 1997 as CEO of Virtools France specialized in 3D soft publishing and Tegmen industries.

Christophe Kourdouly (36) – Head of Business Development, GameStar. Formerly a trader on futures with Fimat (Groupe Société Générale) and co-founder of Weatherly Securities Paris, Christophe spent 4 years as a Sales side analyst with Global Equities covering US TMT sector markets. With a degree in Finance from La Sorbonne University, he previously spent four years in New York working as a stockbroker for Paine Weber, from where he moved to Los Angeles for four years as FD for two Film distribution companies.