MSN Games premieres the first interactive experience from the best-selling author and leading casual games publisher I-play.

REDMOND, Wash., May 15, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- Microsoft Corp.'s MSN
Games and I-play, the publishing division of Oberon Media Inc., today unveiled
"Women's Murder Club: Death in Scarlet," the first interactive game based on a
story and characters by best-selling author James Patterson. The first in a
planned series of games based on Patterson's massively popular "Women's Murder
Club" ("WMC") books is debuting exclusively on MSN Games, one of the world's
leading casual gaming sites, in collaboration with the game's creator, leading
casual games publisher I-play. "Women's Murder Club: Death in Scarlet" is
available exclusively on MSN Games through May 29.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO)

The game, which features the characters from the "WMC" books and an
all-new, never-before-seen storyline, is a thrilling seek-and-find adventure
designed by award-winning game designer Jane Jensen in collaboration with
Patterson. Its storyline lets fans experience the suspense of James
Patterson's stories interactively for the first time as they solve a chilling
series of murders in San Francisco.

"The opportunity for casual games built around intriguing stories and
compelling characters is largely untapped, and who better to lead the way than
America's No. 1 storyteller, James Patterson?" said Kevin Unangst, senior
global director of Games for Windows in the Entertainment and Devices Division
at Microsoft. "We're thrilled to partner with James Patterson and I-play to
debut a game of this caliber on MSN Games."

The game will be promoted extensively throughout the MSN network,
including on MSN.com, MSN Games, MSN Entertainment and MSN Shopping, as well
as on Microsoft.com.

"MSN Games is a great place to debut a high-profile casual game with a
powerful brand like James Patterson, based on the strength of their audience
and the scope and reach of the MSN and Microsoft networks," said Don Ryan,
head of I-play. "We're excited to work with them and are looking forward to an
incredible debut for the first 'Women's Murder Club' game."

"Women's Murder Club: Death in Scarlet" is available exclusively at MSN
Games from May 15 through May 29. Visit http://www.games.msn.com for more
information.

About I-play

I-play is the world's leading multi-platform casual games publisher. With
strong franchises and massive distribution across PC, Mobile, and Interactive
TV, I-play content reaches global consumers across the three most popular
entertainment screens, and delivers fun, entertaining, accessible content to
casual gamers of all ages. I-play's PC publishing (formerly known as Oberon
Games) is based in Seattle and created the hit Dream Day Series, as well as
the first casual games for legendary mystery author Agatha Christie, Death on
the Nile and Peril at End house. I-play's mobile division has delivered some
of the biggest selling franchises in the mobile space, including the world's
#1 best-selling racing franchise The Fast & the Furious series, based on the
blockbuster movies. I-play's interactive TV group (formerly PixelPlay) creates
and distributes games featuring many top brands including Centipede(TM),
Missile Command(R), Asteroids(TM), Monopoly(R), Scrabble(R), Boggle(R), and
Yahtzee(TM). Headquartered in New York City, with offices in Seattle, San
Mateo, London, and Dunfirmlin, Scotland, I-play is the publishing division of
Oberon Media, Inc.

About Oberon Media

Oberon Media, the world's leading multi-platform casual-games company, is
the first company to deliver global, integrated casual-games solutions across
online, mobile and interactive TV platforms, following its recent acquisitions
of I-play and PixelPlay, respective leaders in the mobile games and iTV casual
games markets.

The Oberon Game Center platform is the industry standard and has been
adopted by some of the world's largest corporations including Microsoft,
Comcast, Verizon, Electronic Arts, MySpace, France Telecom and NHN. The
platform combines casual-game content, merchandizing and features to fulfill
each partner's specific needs. Oberon Media's publishing arm works with the
industry's best, award-winning game developers to produce the top-selling
casual games, which can be played in more than a dozen languages across
online, mobile, console and iTV platforms.

Founded in 2003, Oberon Media is headquartered in New York with offices
across North America, Europe and Asia, and is backed by Goldman Sachs, Morgan
Stanley, Oak Investment Partners and Lehman Brothers. For more information
visit: http://www.oberon-media.com.

About MSN Games

One of the largest and most established online games sites in the
industry, MSN Games (http://www.games.msn.com) is the exclusive games channel
for MSN. MSN Games hosts more than 14 million unique users each month and
delivers a diverse selection of more than 600 free casual single-player and
multiplayer games, downloadable games, and premium multiplayer games including
action, puzzle, card, board, word and trivia games.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in
software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their
full potential.

SOURCE Microsoft Corp.

http://www.microsoft.com

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