PlayFirst Signs Distribution Deal With WildTangent

Casual game publisher PlayFirst, whose notable titles include the popular gameLab-developed Diner Dash, as well as the Independent Games Festival-winning casual strategy title Oasis from Mind Control Software, has announced a global licensing and distribution deal with publisher/distributor WildTangent. Under the terms of the agreement, WildTangent will feature PlayFirst's portfolio of downloadable games on its game portal, WildGames, and WildTangent will help PlayFirst reach new audiences by including PlayFirst games in its PC OEM solution, Game Console. As part of WildTangent's existing OEM relationships, trial versions of PlayFirst titles will be pre-loaded on new computers beginning in 2006. "The PC OEM arrangement with WildTangent will help PlayFirst reach its target audience -- the mass market -- in a whole new way," said Rich Roberts, vice president of sales and business development, PlayFirst. "Many people still don't realize they can turn to the Internet to find great games. By bringing ours to the desktops of new PCs, we educate these consumers about the downloadable model plus the level of quality and fun they should come to expect from publishers."