EA SPORTS Crowns King of Madden NFL 06 at 2005 EA SPORTS Madden Challenge Finals; Jarvis Thomas From Maryland Takes Home $100,000 From EA's Hawaii Videogame Competition

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 13, 2006--Thousands entered regional tournaments across 32 cities, but only one could thumb his way to the title. The 4th annual EA SPORTS™ Madden Challenge Tournament from (Nasdaq: ERTS), congratulates Jarvis Thomas, the National 2005 EA SPORTS Madden Challenge Champion on Madden NFL 06. Winners from each of the Madden Challenge Regional Tournaments, which were played using the ® system, were flown to the Marriott Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii for the 'Finals' competition on Feb. 10, 2006. Thomas, 18, the Minneapolis regional winner from Upper Marlboro, Maryland defeated Haarwun Brown, 18, the St. Louis regional winner from Mobile, Alabama, with a final score of 42-18 using the .

After receiving the $100,000 and congratulations from NFL players in attendance, Thomas, also known as "young Jarvis" said, "It's a great feeling and I still can't believe I actually won. There were some tough rounds but I used the Eagles to take advantage of Donovan McNabb."

NFL players who attended the 2005 EA SPORTS Madden Challenge Finals included: Donnie Edwards (San Diego), Chad Johnson (Cincinnati), Shawne Merriman (San Diego), DeAngelo Hall (Atlanta), Tony Gonzalez (Kansas City), Donnie Edwards (San Diego), Dwight Freeney (Indianapolis), Darren Sharper (Minnesota), Warrick Dunn (Atlanta), and Lofo Tatupu (Seattle).

The 2005 EA SPORTS Madden Challenge Tournament ran every weekend from Aug. 27-Dec. 11, 2005 and is the only Electronic Arts sanctioned public tournament competition in the celebrated 16-year history of the EA SPORTS Madden NFL Football videogame franchise.

The 2005 EA SPORTS Madden Challenge Regional Tournament Winners included:

CITY CHAMP AGE Hometown

Troy Brown Las Vegas 21 Houston, TX Robert Warren Phoenix 17 District Heights, MD Patrick Stock Denver 14 Las Vegas, NV Eugene Williams Kansas City 21 Philadelphia, PA Michael Kamm Buffalo 18 Rochester, NY Ayan Tariq Boston 15 Ridgefield Park, NJ Kevin Merritt New York 15 Deptford, NJ Anthony Brinson Philadelphia 16 Clementon, NJ Justin Chow Washington, D.C. 20 Great Falls, VA Shayan Tariq Baltimore 19 Ridgefield Park, NJ Stephen White Pittsburgh 19 Fort Washington, MD James Lowe Cleveland 24 Baltimore, MD Torrence Webster Detroit 16 Detroit, MI Byron Matthews Chicago 27 Chicago, IL Corleavrence Deshazer Green Bay 25 Schaumbure, IL Jarvis Thompson Minneapolis 18 Marlboro, MD Greg James Indianapolis 25 Hattiesburg, MS Robert Reuss Cincinnati 15 Annapolis, MD Haarwun Brown St. Louis 18 Mobile, AL Donald Mazzola Nashville 20 Federal Way, WA Aaron J. Stocum Charlotte 17 Rochester, NY Jet Steele Jacksonville 18 Tampa Bay, FL William Lee Wolf Tampa Bay 18 Tallahassee, FL Robert Wright Miami 29 Warrensville Heights, OH Tommie Hill Atlanta 21 Minneapolis, MN Andrew Shugart New Orleans 20 Donaldsville, LA Toby Merchant Houston 30 Hayward, CA Daniel Wilson Dallas 27 Lincoln, NE Eric Verlarde San Diego 17 West Covina, CA Lilrob Taylor Los Angeles 24 Youngstown, OH Derek Kinder San Francisco 18 Napa, CA Cory Pressley Seattle 18 Willingboro, NJ

Madden NFL 06, which is jointly licensed by the NFL and PLAYERS INC, has sold more than six million copies so far this year on eight platforms and Madden NFL Football is America's best-selling sports videogame with more than 50 million copies sold in the 16 year history of the franchise. Best Buy and Microsoft were the official sponsors of the 2005 EA SPORTS Madden Challenge Tournament. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to NFL Youth Education Town (YET), an official NFL charity that provides high-tech educational and recreational centers designed to improve the academic, physical fitness, and job- related skills of at-risk youth. For additional information please check out www.maddenchallenge.com.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for videogame systems, personal computers and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTS™, EA™, EA SPORTS BIG™ and POGO™. In fiscal 2005, EA posted revenues of $3.1 billion and had 31 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.

Electronic Arts, EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS BIG and POGO are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. The mark "" and the name of John Madden are trademarks or other intellectual property of Red Bear, Inc. or John Madden, are subject to license to Electronic Arts Inc., and may not be otherwise used in whole or in part without the prior written consent of Red Bear or John Madden. NFL Team names/logos are trademarks of the teams indicated. All other NFL-related trademarks are trademarks of the . Officially licensed product of PLAYERS INC. www.nflplayers.com. Microsoft and Xbox are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

CONTACT: Electronic Arts Wendy Spander, 650-628-7929 (Sr. PR Manager) [email protected] Robin Chandler, 650-628-3610 (Senior Director, Public Relations) [email protected]

SOURCE: Electronic Arts Inc.