National Geographic And NDi Media Partner To Develop And Distribute ’Virtual World Of Music’ Game

Game Will Let Fans of All Ages Come Together to Create, Share and Discover A World of Music Across Multiple Platforms

WASHINGTON - National Geographic Interactive Platforms Group and NDi Media announced that they have teamed up to develop and distribute "Virtual World of Music" a new multiplayer and online social and mobile virtual gaming experience and destination for music lovers. The announcement was made today by Paul Levine, executive vice president, National Geographic Interactive Platforms Group, and senior vice president, corporate strategy and development, National Geographic Global Media.

For "Virtual World of Music" National Geographic Games, a dynamic part of National Geographic’s Interactive Platforms division, will take the lead in working with NDi Media to give players from around the world a fun, exciting and authentic experience using theme music from around the world to create and share music. The game will present a music-themed virtual world and interactive environment that enables users to create and share personal music compositions. National Geographic’s Mobile and Music groups, among others, also will participate in the strategic partnership.

"National Geographic Games is committed to partnering with the most innovative and creative companies like NDi Media to create games that resonate with a broad audience" said Chris Mate, vice president and general manager, National Geographic Games. "Music is a very unifying and inspirational theme, and we expect the creative interactivity of ’Virtual World of Music’ to find many fans among our core National Geographic audience and beyond"

Set to launch in early 2010, "Virtual World of Music" builds on NDi Media’s Mixing Studio platform, which has been used by millions of players worldwide. Designed by composers and tested by kids, the mixing platform guarantees that pros and novices alike will mix great-sounding songs every time via the game.

"Music is in our DNA" said Neil Smolar, award-winning composer and president of NDi Media. "We’ve enjoyed great success with our Mixing Studio platform over the last few years and we’re looking forward to extending that success through this exciting relationship with the National Geographic Games team"

NDi Media’s creative team includes professional musicians with a deep understanding of mixing and scoring music to visuals, which led to the creation of NDi’s proprietary Mixing Studio platform.

About NDi Media
NDi Media creates casual games and entertainment properties for children of all ages. Since 2001, it has produced a portfolio of multiplatform properties featuring original characters that are licensed to broadcasters, portals and game distributors. In addition, NDi Media has a demonstrated expertise in music games, with millions of players worldwide. NDi Media also creates games inspired by established brands for clients such as Warner Bros., PBS, National Geographic, Discovery and Hit Entertainment.

About National Geographic Interactive Platforms
National Geographic Interactive Platforms, a division of National Geographic Ventures, combines into one operating unit the world-renowned National Geographic Maps as well as National Geographic Games, National Geographic Mobile and National Geographic Digital Publishing, to deliver interactive experiences to a new generation of National Geographic consumers. For more information, go to nationalgeographic.com.