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Habbo Selected by AlwaysOn as an AO Global 250 Winner

Fri, 18 July 2008 06:00:00 EEST

Recognized for game-changing technology and market value

Los Angeles (July 17, 2008) – Habbo, the largest global virtual community for teens, today announced that it has been chosen by AlwaysOn as one of the AO Global 250 Winners. Inclusion in the AO Global 250 signifies major developments in the creation of new business opportunities in the global technology industries. Habbo was specially selected by the AlwaysOn editorial team and other industry experts spanning the globe, based on a set of five criteria: innovation, market potential, commercialization, stakeholder value, and media buzz.

Habbo and the AlwaysOn Global 250 Top Private Companies will be honored at the AlwaysOn & STVP Summit at Stanford scheduled to occur on July 22-24, 2008 at Stanford University. This two-and-a-half day executive event highlights the significant economic, political and commercial trends disrupting the global technology industries and features the most innovative companies, eminent technologists, influential investors and journalists in keynote presentations, panel debates and private company CEO showcases.

Fifty of the top CEOs from the AO Global 250 will present their market strategies to a panel of industry experts in a “CEO Showcase.”

“The AO Global 250 winners have excelled in key strategic areas in the global technology markets,” said Tony Perkins, founder and CEO of AlwaysOn. “We congratulate them for their success in introducing new tools, services, and platforms that are driving the next phase of innovation and creating real value at an economically uncertain time.”

The AO Global 250 was selected from over hundreds of companies, nominated by a panel of industry experts in the online technology, media, entertainment, enterprise and greentech sectors from around the world.

“Habbo is pleased to be included in the AO Global 250 this year and delighted that AlwaysOn recognizes our industry leadership, achievements and growth over the last year,” said Teemu Huuhtanen, EVP, marketing, ad sales and business development, Sulake Corporation and president, North America, Sulake Inc. “Virtual worlds are evolving daily as future-looking brands better understand the value of online social media and how to best use it as a communications vehicle. Over the past eight years, Habbo has grown and developed expertise in this arena, and we will continue to leverage our experience to benefit our partners and users.”

There are currently Habbo communities in 32 countries on six continents. To date, more than 103 million Habbo characters have been created globally and 9.5 million unique users worldwide visit Habbo each month (source: ComScore).

A full list of all the AO Global 250 winners can be found on the AlwaysOn Web site.

About AlwaysOn:
AlwaysOn ignited the open-media revolution in early 2003 by being the first media brand to launch a community blog network. In 2004, AlwaysOn continued to lead the industry in innovation by engaging its bloggers in a social network. AlwaysOn is also revolutionizing the media business by applying its open-media principles to its executive event series (Stanford Summit, OnHollywood, OnMedia, GoingGreen, NordicGreen, and Venture Summit East and West) and quarterly print “blogozine”. No other media brand has dared to create such open interaction with its readers and event participants.

Habbo Reaches 100 Million Registered Avatars Worldwide

Thu, 26 June 2008 01:25:00 EEST

The Leading Online Virtual Community for Teens Reaches Century Mark Milestone for User Created Characters

Helsinki (June 26, 2008) - - Habbo, the world’s largest virtual community for teenagers, announced today that its 100 millionth avatar has been created. As a pioneer in the virtual world landscape, Habbo has steadily grown its teen audience since launching in 2000. Currently Habbo attracts close to 10 million monthly visitors to its services worldwide.

The 100 millionth avatar was created by a Habbo user in UK. As a gift to celebrate the milestone, Habbo presented the lucky teen special virtual Habbo prizes including a tailor-made Habbo room with some extremely rare items as well as a wealthy amount of Habbo coins. In addition, the 100 millionth Habbo gets to work on creativity ideas with a brand new MacBook Air laptop computer.

“During the past eight years, Habbo has maintained its vitality by listening to its users’ wishes and by adapting the service to meet Habbo’s needs,” said Timo Soininen, CEO of Sulake, the parent company for Habbo. “We humbly recognize the fact that Habbo is essentially our user’s own place and our role is to build and maintain a fun environment for them.”

During the last six months, Habbo has seen an amazing growth of nearly 20 million registered new users. A successful site redesign in late 2007 including e.g. lots of enhanced features for new users, various marketing and in-game campaigns, celebrity appearances in various countries are just a few factors credited for this amazing growth.

“This is an important landmark for Habbo,” added Timo Soininen. “Attracting 100 million Habbos is a testament to how user generated content and activities in a fun cartoony setting create a compelling service and experience for teens. We have also lots of exciting plans for the future, and look forward to watching how Habbos engage with the world around them.”

Originally introduced in Finland, Habbo has now expanded to 32 communities in countries across six continents. Globally, Habbo has nearly an equal split between boys and girls; 70 percent of users are 13-16 years old and 64 percent visit Habbo every day. On average, Habbos users spend about 39 minutes per visit to the site.

Read more about the Habbo history.

Double Fusion Connects Advertisers with Millions of Teens in Habbo's Virtual World

Mon, 07 April 2008 10:13:00 EEST

The Leading Virtual World for Teens Offers Unique Online Advertising Opportunities

Los Angeles (April 7, 2008) – Habbo, the premier and largest global virtual community for teens, announced today that Double Fusion, the leading independent in-game advertising firm, is now the exclusive advertising sales agency for the Habbo.com property in the US. Double Fusion will manage media sales and coordinate in-game, integrated marketing campaigns that position brands in an exciting and authentic way to Habbo.com’s massive and hip teen audience.

As the exclusive advertising representative for Habbo.com, Double Fusion will handle advertising sales, sponsorships and promotional opportunities with brands seeking to reach Habbo.com’s growing base of 2.4 million unique visitors per month (source: Comscore). Utilizing their extensive sales experience in 2D and 3D environments for in-game advertising and marketing campaigns, Double Fusion will work with advertisers from the entertainment industry, retail, fashion and sports arenas to create relevant and interactive brand campaigns. By integrating branding elements into its virtual world, Habbo builds exposure and increases awareness without the use of intrusive ads. The partnership aims to build campaigns that support the Habbo experience, and that organically grow due to the community support.

“Habbo teens are savvy and insist on interacting with brands in a way that is both fun and enhances the online experience, and Double Fusion is unique in its ability to blend traditional media with immersive online campaigns which our users will enjoy,” said Teemu Huuhtanen, Executive VP, Marketing, Ad Sales and Business Development, and President, North America, Sulake Inc. “ Over 200 advertisers have used Habbo globally and the trend is growing. The average Habbo user spends nearly 40 minutes on the site per visit, which provides a rich foundation for a company seeking to build an identity in a virtual world environment.”

Leveraging Habbo’s virtual world for real world branding, advertisers can execute a variety of marketing initiatives, including in-game billboards, contests, interstitials and instant-console messaging, customized brand rooms, sponsored quests, – all of which create a natural integration that adds value and appeals to teens.

“Double Fusion understands the power of Habbo, and the richness and depth of the audience and environment,” said Jonathan Epstein, president and CEO, Double Fusion. “The virtual world environment is a natural extension of our vast experience building both sponsorship and media programs in the gaming landscape.”

There are currently Habbo communities in 32 countries on six continents. To date, more than 94 million Habbo characters have been created globally and 9.5 million unique users worldwide visit Habbo each month (source: Google Analytics).

About Double Fusion:
Double Fusion is the game advertising expert. The company brings together the leading in-game ad serving technology, the broadest network of games across a wide variety of genres, and a sales force that has helped create and evolve the in-game advertising industry. Double Fusion provides marketers and their advertising agencies with the broadest range of in-game, around-game and web-based solutions with which to engage and sell the valuable and hard-to-reach gamer demographics. Double Fusion is privately held and headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Jerusalem, London, and Tokyo. More information on Double Fusion is available at www.doublefusion.com.

For more information, please contact:

Erik Fairleigh
Edelman Public Relations, for Habbo
323-202-1026
erik.fairleigh@edelman.com

Sibel Sunar/Brian Rubin
fortyseven communications for Double Fusion
323-658-1200
sibel@fortyseven.com / brian@fortyseven.com

Habbo’s second Global Youth Survey reveals the digital profiles of teens online

Thu, 03 April 2008 01:23:00 EEST

Leading Virtual World for Teens Surveyed Over 50,000 Youths Worldwide on Brand Preferences, Spending Habits and Other Topics

Helsinki, Finland, 3 April 2008 - Habbo, the largest virtual world for teenagers, today unveiled the results of its second Global Habbo Youth Survey. Examining the interests, values, attitudes, online habits of a global audience, the survey reveals teens' current media usage, consumption behavior and brand preferences in order to better understand what compels youth around the world.

For the study, Habbo surveyed 58,486 teens between the ages 11 and 18 from 31 countries, and identified five clearly defined behavioral segments amongst the respondents. With each group representing approximately one-fifth of the total teens surveyed, the five groups were categorized and described as the following:

•    Achievers: Ambitious, strong minded and materialistic. They value material success and whilst having lots of friends do not consider other people's feelings as much as other segments
•    Rebels: Value gathering lots of experiences in life and enjoy a fast-paced lifestyle. Like Achievers they want to become “rich and famous”, but they are not willing to compromise on having fun in order to achieve this goal
•    Traditionals: Value having an ordinary life and see themselves as honest, polite and obedient. They are keen to help others but are less ambitious and pleasure seeking compared to other segments
•    Creatives: Share many of the same positive traits as Traditionals, but with a focus on creativity. They place value in getting a good education and being influential in life, but they are also active, social and have an interest in travelling
•    Loners: More introverted and less likely than other segments to identify with any specific personality traits. They rarely see themselves as active or self-assured, but are more open minded in their attitudes compared to Traditionals or Achievers

A major focus of the survey was how teens communicate today. 76 per cent of teens globally use the internet to Instant Message friends. Overall, Instant Messaging is the most popular communication tool in most of the countries. Though 72 per cent of teens still hold active email accounts, the majority of communication with peers is no longer conducted over email. The survey revealed that email is generally reserved by teens more for non-personal needs such as school or work, or correspondence with family members.

“According to the Global Habbo Youth Survey, the most popular global websites amongst teens are YouTube and MySpace,” said Emmi Kuusikko, Director of User and Market Insight for Sulake, Habbo's parent company “Of those surveyed, 50 percent responded that they forward humorous links and videos to their friends, while 30 percent regularly upload content, confirming the notion that teenagers have an active online presence.”

“Perhaps surprisingly social networks appear as relatively low online priorities for young people, as 40 per cent of teens do not view social networks as an important part of their online experience on a global basis. This is due to the English-language bias of most social networks but considering Habbo's global success this also suggests that the localisation of sites is important for teens communicating online. In countries where social networks are considered popular though they have become a regular communication channel between friends.”

Habbo has worked in partnership with leading brands that enter the virtual world to engage creatively with teens online. The survey showed that brand familiarity clearly affects teens' choices as consumers, with 74 percent saying that familiar brands guide their purchasing decisions. Reinforcing the brand familiarity findings, global well-known brands, such as McDonald's, Coca-Cola and Nokia ranked high for both boys and girls. Gender differences are more visible for example in clothing brands. According to the results, boys favor Nike, Adidas and Billabong as their top clothing brands, whereas girls preferred Hennes and Mauritz, Nike and Roxy.

A report of the Global Habbo Youth Survey 2008 is available to buy as a hard copy book of 250 pages. To place an order visit the Sulake webstore.

For inquiries and orders, please contact: marketinsight@sulake.com

Further survey results on different topics will be published in the sulake.com blog in the following weeks. The first blog concerns mobile phone usage among youth, you can read it here.

About the research
The research was conducted within the virtual world, Habbo, and the total number of respondents (after data cleaning) was 58, 486. The research was conducted between October and November 2007. 31 countries were surveyed and statistical weighting was employed to give all participating countries an equal weight in the global results. The results of the research are available on request.

Habbo Partners with William Morris Agency to Expand Entrance into the Entertainment Industry

Wed, 06 February 2008 10:00:00 EET

New Partnership Will Provide the Leading Virtual World for Teens New Entries into Film, Sports, Television and Music

LOS ANGELES (February 6, 2008) - - Habbo, the largest virtual world for teens, today announced it has partnered with William Morris Agency, the world’s largest and most diversified talent and literary agency. Habbo is the first online virtual world the agency will represent in the rapidly growing digital entertainment industry.

To expand the virtual world’s reach into the entertainment industry, the William Morris Agency will help Habbo facilitate new strategic partnerships to generate cross-marketing and promotional opportunities. Additionally, William Morris will provide popular Hollywood and music celebrities for in-game interview appearances within the Habbo community.

“The William Morris Agency is the preeminent talent agency in the business,” said Teemu Huuhtanen, EVP, Habbo business and President, North America. “They will play a crucial role in expanding the Habbo brand across North America by initiating for us new relationships with advertisers in the entertainment industry and developing high-profile promotional opportunities.”

Working together, the William Morris Agency will leverage Habbo’s presence as the leading teen virtual world to develop new revenue-generating business opportunities with major studios, television and cable nets, record labels, and professional sports leagues, to name a few.

“As the Habbo community continues to increase, their audience will demand a mainstream in-game entertainment presence,” said Jim A. Wiatt, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, William Morris Agency. “William Morris’ Digital Group will be a key partner helping Habbo develop ideal business and marketing opportunities with the leaders of the entertainment industry.”

There are currently Habbo communities in 31 countries on five continents. To date, over 86 million Habbo characters have been created and more than 8 million unique user’s worldwide visit Habbo each month (source: Google Analytics).

About William Morris Agency:
Founded in 1898, the William Morris Agency is the leading talent and literary agency in the world, with principal offices in New York, Beverly Hills, Nashville, London, Miami Beach and Shanghai, China. The Agency represents clients in all segments of the entertainment industry, including Motion Pictures, Television, Music and Personal Appearances, Broadway Theatre and Theatrical Touring, Book Publishing, Commercial Endorsements, Sports Marketing, Corporate Consulting, Digital Media, and Video Games. The William Morris Agency can be found at http://www.wma.com.

Virtual Goods Get a Hollywood Makeover

Tue, 29 January 2008 02:00:00 EET

Habbo, the Leading Virtual World for Teens, to Create Virtual Goods Inspired By Three Paramount Pictures Titles

LOS ANGELES, January 29, 2008 - Habbo, the largest online virtual world for teens, today with Paramount Pictures Digital Entertainment, announced a licensing agreement to create virtual goods based on titles including “The Spiderwick Chronicles,” “Beowulf”* and “Mean Girls.” The deal will provide Habbo merchandising rights throughout the U.S. and Canada for all three properties. The partnership marks one of the first of its kind between a major motion picture studio and a virtual world commodity.

Starting in February with the upcoming fantasy-adventure title, “The Spiderwick Chronicles,” Habbo will introduce into their North American community of more than 1.8 million teens items that include themed apparel to accessorize avatars, virtual furniture and accessories, as well as other virtual goods based on the movie. Habbo will follow up by producing themed virtual merchandise for the popular, previously released titles, “Beowulf”* and “Mean Girls” in the upcoming months.

“The Habbo audience demands that their community reflect today’s real world pop culture entertainment landscape,” said Teemu Huuhtanen, EVP, Habbo business and President, North America. “By establishing a licensing deal with a leading studio like Paramount Pictures Digital Entertainment, we are able to produce themed virtual goods relevant to the movies our teen audience is watching, while simultaneously implementing impactful promotional campaigns for the studio.”

“Many of our movie properties naturally lend themselves to unique and innovative opportunities in the traditional, digital and virtual worlds,” said Alex Carloss, Executive Vice President & GM of Worldwide Digital Distribution for Paramount Pictures Digital Entertainment. “This agreement allows us to access Habbo’s exceptional virtual community and built-in audience base where users can extend and enhance the film experience with a suite of themed-virtual goods.”

There are currently Habbo communities in 31 countries on five continents. To date, over 86 million Habbo characters have been created and more than 8 million unique users worldwide visit Habbo each month. (source: Google Analytics)

For more information email: press@sulake.com.

About Paramount Pictures Digital Entertainment:

Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. The company's labels include Paramount Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, MTV Films, Nickelodeon Movies and DreamWorks Studios. PPC operations also include Paramount Pictures Digital Entertainment, Paramount Home Entertainment, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., Paramount Studios, and Worldwide Television Distribution.

* Produced by Paramount Pictures and Shangri-La Entertainment

Habbo and Greenpeace survey reveals teens more concerned about greenhouse gases than drugs, violence or war

Thu, 06 December 2007 02:00:00 EET

49,243 teens polled on their views towards environmental issues ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali from 3 to 14 December

Helsinki, Finland, 6 December 2007 - A new survey of nearly 50,000 teenagers from around the world today reveals that 74 per cent of teens believe that global warming is a serious problem and are more concerned about it than any other issue including drugs, violence or war. The results are being released as governments meet in Bali, Indonesia, for one of the most important UN conferences ever held on climate change.

The research conducted jointly by Habbo, the world’s largest virtual world for teens, and Greenpeace International examined the attitudes and behaviour of the global teen population towards environmental issues and gave teens a chance to speak out on the most pressing problem facing the world.

Governments come under scrutiny in the survey: teenagers believe that governments are lagging behind them in their level of concern over climate change. Whereas the teens surveyed regard climate change as more important than terrorism (56 per cent versus 46 per cent, respectively) they think that governments consider climate change a lower priority. 33 per cent think governments are ‘very concerned’ about climate change compared to 42 per cent who see governments being ‘very concerned’ about terrorism.

North America has come under the most fire, with 39 per cent of teens citing the continent as being responsible for the majority of greenhouse gases, followed by Europe (24 per cent) and Asia (19 per cent). Despite teens in every country pointing fingers at North America for the crisis (except in Asia where they blame themselves), a quarter of North American teens are still not sure if global warming is even a problem.

“The response from the teens to this survey conducted in Habbo is phenomenal and really highlights the concern felt around the world,” explains Timo Soininen, CEO of Sulake. “Giving teens a voice on this matter is essential and we need to find practical ways to work together and engage our youth to help combat this problem.”

Although 64 per cent of teens believe it’s still possible to stop global warming, nearly 40 per cent don’t actually know what’s causing it or how to prevent it. One thing is clear though: teens do not regard this as a future problem; two thirds of those polled believe that global warming will affect their lives in a negative way.

“Today’s teenagers are tomorrow’s decision makers. They are ‘Generation C’ – the generation that has to beat climate change,” said Gerd Leipold, Greenpeace International Executive Director. “ It will be up to them to create a revolution in non-polluting, renewable energy to prevent global warming from affecting the lives of billions of people and threatening the survival of countless species of animals and plants.”

Scientists of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change say that emissions of greenhouse gases need to be halved globally by the middle of this century to avoid severe impacts such as water shortages, floods and the spread of diseases.

The 49,243 teens participating in the November 2007 Habbo survey came from 18 countries. Those completing the survey were given the option of finding out more about climate change at the ‘ Habbos against climate change’ campaign group page. 16,000 Habbos registered as the supporters of the group.

Habbo Ready for Next Generation with Refreshing New Design and Features

Tue, 04 December 2007 07:00:00 EET

Helsinki, Finland, December 5, 2007 – Habbo, one of the world’s largest virtual worlds for teens, has unveiled its new-look website. The new design gives members easy access to their personal pages, friends and groups whilst providing new users with a simple introduction to the virtual world. With a wide range of new accessories, including hats, belts, jewellery and facial hair, teens can give their Habbos a revamp too.

The new site layout was based on research undertaken by Sulake into the features that its teen members most value. These include chatting with other users in guest rooms, making new friends and building new rooms. Quick menus and personal landing pages have been created to give them easy access to these important activities. For newcomers, the landing page provides an illustrated insight into the virtual world and simplifies registration to a one-step process.

In addition, there are a wealth of new customizable avatar features including gas masks, paper bags and hairstyles. Teens can now make dramatic changes to their appearance bringing another level of engagement to the world.

The launch of the new site is the latest milestone in the development of this seven year old virtual world, which now counts over 83 million registered characters.

Habbo's Avatar Count Rises to 80 million

Thu, 25 October 2007 10:06:00 EEST

Helsinki, Finland, October 25, 2007 – Sulake Corporation, the company behind Habbo, one of the world’s largest virtual worlds for teens, has announced that Habbo has hit 80 million created characters. The announcement was made in London at the Virtual Worlds Forum Europe yesterday.

In 2000 Habbo launched in Finland and has since grown into 31 country sites across five continents. On average, 75,000 members join each day and each user spends 32 minutes per site visit. The global community of teenagers between the ages of 11 and 17 have already created over 80 million characters and currently over 6 million unique users visit the site every month. But as co-founder Sampo Karjalainen explains this wasn’t always the plan:

“When we first created the idea behind Habbo it wasn’t our intention that it should be an online community for teenagers explicitly or that it would run for so long! The first version of Habbo (called Mobiles Disco) was a hobby project that myself and my partner, Aapo Kyrölä were working on, and one which we would only focus on for a month or two. But as the community grew based solely on word of mouth we of course could not take the service down.

“In 2000, when we officially launched Habbo in Finland, we realised that the majority of the community consisted of teenagers. On that basis we took a decision to continue to develop the site but only for teens. Now seven years on with 80 million characters created, it's clear that teenagers get more out of virtual world experiences and that we made the right decision!”

Peter Levin joins the Board of Directors of Sulake Corporation, the company behind the world’s largest teen virtual world Habbo

Wed, 05 September 2007 09:07:00 EEST

- Entertainment and sports industries veteran, Peter Levin, adds deep media knowledge to Sulake’s top management

Helsinki, Finland / Los Angeles, California -- September 5, 2007 – Sulake Corporation, the company behind Habbo, one of the world’s largest virtual worlds for teens, has appointed Peter Levin to join its Board of Directors. Peter has been selected to build on Sulake’s business development, marketing and entertainment expertise. He started in his new role on August 22, 2007.

Currently Peter serves as president and co-founder of Bellrock Media, producer and distributor of online and mobile content in the United States and in Japan. He is a veteran of the entertainment and sports industries, and worked for many years in the Corporate Advisory Group of CAA with a client list that included Matsushita Electric Industry Company, Sony, Nike, The Coca-Cola Company and Credit Lyonnais. In 1996, Levin joined The Walt Disney Company in the Corporate and Strategic Planning Groups and later joined Disney Online as a senior producer. Leaving Disney in 1998, Levin became managing director of investment and consulting vehicle, Lynx Technologies. Lynx’s investments included Applied Semantics (sold to Google 4/03), Gamespy Industries (sold to IGN 12/03), Ask.com (sold to IAC 3/05) and Atom Entertainment (sold to Viacom 8/06).

“We are delighted to announce Peter’s appointment to Sulake’s Board of Directors. As an online entertainment and media company, Sulake has focused on engaging teenagers and online marketers in all parts of the world,” said Jussi Nurmio, chairman of the Sulake Board. “With Peter’s deep industry knowledge and insight we believe we can continue to produce cutting-edge entertainment products and services that will enhance the Habbo subculture to an even greater degree.”

“In the era of web 2.0, teenagers are an acutely influential group who rapidly share ideas and information across borders and constantly drive new trends,” said Peter Levin, member of the Sulake Board. “The delivery of such an attractive and elusive demographic to entertainment, sport and marketing partners in a contextual package is a unique proposition. I am excited to have joined an organization which, in addition to entertaining teens, empowers them with the tools to entertain themselves.”

Peter Levin currently serves on the Board of Directors of Double Fusion, Power Challenge and the Arena Football League. He also serves on the steering committee of The East/West Sports Council. Levin is the founder and co-owner of the 2006 World Champion Chicago Rush of the Arena Football League and is the managing partner of Palisades Baseball, which owns and operates two Minor League Baseball franchises.

Download image of Peter Levin: www.sulake.com//gallery/people/Peter_Levin_high_res.JPG

Hooray for Habbowood! Digital Movie-Making Awards Beckon Filmmakers of the Future

Tue, 04 September 2007 10:55:00 EEST

- Habbo issue call to action for teens across the world to partake in the global animated Digital Movie Awards
- Spaghetti Westerns are out and action comedy is in, as Habbo announces results of international teen film poll of 32,000 teens

4 September, 2007 – Quiet on the set, lights, roll cameras - action! The time is at hand for bedroom filmmakers across the world to enter the inaugural Habbowood Digital Movie Awards 2007. Habbo, the largest virtual world for teens challenges youngsters to take to the director’s chair and create, share and star in their own animated movies.

The finalist in each country will be entered into a global heat, where they will be judged by an expert panel from the world of animation and Computer Generated visual effects (VFX), including Matt Johnson, VFX Supervisor at world leading film visual FX house, Cinesite; Award winning 2DTV animator, Tim Searle and Jim Thacker, the editor of 3D animation bible, 3D World. Antti Jokinen, who has directed funky music videos for greats such as Missy Elliot, Kelly Clarkson and Amerie will also cast his vote.

32,000 teens reveal recipes for film success in online poll

To mark the opening of the awards, Habbo has conducted an international film poll of nearly 32,000 teens to gauge opinions of the ‘secret-sauce’ behind a winning film. The majority of respondents (32 per cent) voted poor story lines as the greatest cause of bad films, followed by terrible acting (18 per cent).

With Habbo filmmakers in the director’s chair, future film audiences can say goodbye to The Good the Bad & The Ugly and The Sound of Music – and hello to Hogwarts. Westerns (34 per cent) and Musicals (31 per cent) received the majority of votes for the least favourite film genre and the most popular film was Harry Potter with 18 per cent of votes. Don’t be surprised if rough & tumble howlers play a large role in The Digital Movie Awards: comedy and action came out on top as teens’ most popular film genres with 61 and 54 per cent of votes respectively.

Winning Habbo goes to Hollywood

Unlike its offline counterparts, The Habbowood Digital Movie Awards are judged democratically by the Habbo community, which has 7 million unique users per month. The most viewed movies in each country will be entered into a global finale where in the beginning of October an overall winner will be awarded a star studded trip for two to Hollywood.

Matt Johnson, Cinesite said: “You only need to spend a little time within Habbo to see the incredible amount of creativity and enthusiasm for film that teens have. The prize and the international prestige of being the winner of the Digital Movie Awards should hopefully raise the bar even further.” Cinesite is a critically acclaimed visual effects house responsible for making “impossible” effects “real” through CG artistry and effects on blockbusters such as The Golden Compass, and the Harry Potter films.

The Habbowood MovieMaker tool will allow teens to render a romantic remake of Gone With the Wind, or a sequel to Harry Potter with magical explosions. A wide range of sets, props, FX and soundtracks are available, and directors are tasked with every aspect of filmmaking - from writing witty dialogue down to the body language of the actors. Viewers can ask to be a friend of acknowledged directors and users can promote their or other films by inviting friends to view their or other movies or watch the current top movies of the community. As well as showcasing movies on Habbo, teens are able to post their movies to external sites, such as myspace.com.

Habbo opened the doors of Habbowood already last year in a global movie-making campaign. Habbos created over 700,000 animated short films which were sent over one million times and viewed over six million times by Habbo community members.

Habbowood MovieMaker and the Digital Movie Awards can be found on local Habbo pages at www.habbo.xx/habbowood.
UK: www.habbo.co.uk/habbowood
US: www.habbo.com/habbowood

Watch these sample movies to get an idea of Habbowood:
“In the mood for love”:
http://www.habbo.com/entertainment/habbowood/movies/622

“The Cokeymonster”:
http://www.habbo.com/entertainment/habbowood/movies/350

Download Habbowood and other Habbo/Sulake press images at:
www.sulake.com/press/image_bank

Sulake enters the social networking market - acquires a highly successful social networking service in Finland with intention to launch internationally

Mon, 23 April 2007 09:17:00 EEST

- The company behind easy to use virtual world Habbo expands its product portfolio and becomes the largest online community company in the Nordics.

Helsinki, Finland, April 23, 2007 –- Sulake Corporation, the company behind Habbo, one of the world's largest virtual worlds for teenagers, takes a strong step towards the social networking scene by acquiring Finland's leading social networking service IRC-Galleria. The acquisition makes Sulake the biggest company in online communities and virtual worlds in the Nordic region. Sulake's online services now reach more young people than any other media in Finland.

Sulake's long-term goal has been to broaden its product portfolio with new online services, which can be launched internationally by utilizing the unique international network Sulake has built for Habbo. Currently Sulake has offices in 19 countries with a staff of over 300, over 150 payment methods in 32 countries, global hosting centers as well as distribution and marketing partners all over the world.

The objective of the deal is to launch a new social networking service based on IRC-Galleria concept to carefully selected countries using Sulake's infrastructure and experience. The IRC-Galleria concept has localized versions already in Russia, Estonia, Lithuania and Germany.

Timo Soininen, CEO of Sulake Corporation: "Sulake's objective is to become a major global player in online entertainment by focusing on virtual worlds and social networking services. We want to build a portfolio of products, which offer a wide range of social interaction services and entertainment for different target groups and for different user needs. Our new service IRC-Galleria fits this goal perfectly. The company behind the service and its skilled employees together with Sulake's current resources gives us a magnificent opportunity to build up a new internationally successful social networking service. Sulake has managed to make Habbo one the most spectacular success stories in the area of virtual worlds and communities and I'm confident we can do this again."

Taneli Tikka, CEO of Dynamoid comments: "Our service has always been about real and active users. Our average user spends more than 20 hours in the service monthly, which is over ten times more than an average user in MySpace. An active IRC-Galleria user spends more than 35 hours per month using the service. Being a part of the Sulake group gives us a perfect chance to develop our business for international markets. We are thrilled about the opportunity to join the international network that Sulake offers."

2.2 billion monthly page impressions in IRC-Galleria

IRC-Galleria is by far the largest and most used social networking service in Finland. The site is visited by more than 850 000 Finns every week (source: TNS Metrix) and the service has over 415 000 active members. The site receives an astonishing 2.2 billion monthly page impressions, which makes it one of the most active online communities in the world.

IRC-Galleria is an interactive service where users can e.g. post and share their photos and music on their own customized site, joint different communities and communicate with people in many ways. Currently the members are on average 19.5 years old and over half of the registered are over 18. Basic usage of IRC-Gallery is free, but users have an option to purchase additional services and enhancements. The service can also be used with a mobile phone. (wap.irc.fi)

Finland: http://irc-galleria.net
Russia: http://my-gallery.ru
Germany: http://ircgalerie.net
Estonia: http://minugalerii.ee
Lithuania: http://manogalerija.lt

Habbo has over 75 million registered avatars

Sulake's main product Habbo, one of the world's largest and most popular virtual worlds for teenagers, has already over 76 million registered avatars. Currently operating in 29 countries, the Habbo communities are visited by 7 million users per month, each user spending an average of over 30 minutes per session in the virtual world and community.

For more information, contact:

Juhani Lassila, Communications Director, Sulake Corporation, tel. +358 40 541 2365, juhani.lassila@sulake.com

Press images: http://irc-galleria.net/press

Virtual World Habbo Teams Up With Earth Day Network To Encourage Teens To Go Green

Wed, 04 April 2007 01:17:00 EEST

- Earth Day Network Joins Online Community Habbo to Launch "Green Teen" Campaign to Encourage Teens to Spread the Word about Green Living and Celebrate Earth Day

Los Angeles, CA, April 4, 2007 – Sulake Corporation, parent company of HABBO, one of the largest and most popular online destinations for teens, announced today it has partnered with Earth Day Network (www.earthday.net) to launch an awareness campaign in North America to encourage teens to take part in being more eco-friendly in their daily lives. As part of the "Green Teen" effort, Habbo will feature tips for teens on green living from Earth Day Network, along with tips for greener schools. Habbo has also added a line of "Green Furni" to its selection of virtual furniture teens can use to decorate and personalize their online rooms. Between April 4th and April 22nd, 10% of the "green furni" sales from its North American sites habbo.com and habbo.ca, will go to Earth Day Network. The "Green Teen" campaign will last through April 22nd, in recognition of Earth Day.

"In a recent survey we conducted on Habbo, we found out that many of our users really care about the environment. We wanted to give them a real chance to help out in important ways, and in encouraging other teens to be more eco-friendly," said Teemu Huuhtanen, President, North America, Sulake Corp. "The Green Furni line is an interesting way to symbolize how important it is to be more aware of how they can help the environment, and the simple green living tips we will include are easy ways to make a difference. We are also very happy to be partnered with Earth Day Network in our campaign." Kathleen Rogers, president of Earth Day Network, added, "Today's teenagers are our biggest hope for the future of the environmental movement. Earth Day 2007 is the perfect opportunity to get our younger generations involved in the fight against climate change, and we are glad that Habbo has decided to promote green living during this month leading to Earth Day."

Habbo members will celebrate Earth Day with a virtual Earth Day rally held on the communities Lido Pool Deck April 22nd.

Earth Day Network and Habbo have created some tips for becoming a "Green Teen." They include:

Encourage your family to replace 10 old fashioned energy hungry light bulbs with new cool energy saving light bulbs - reduce your carbon footprint by 1500 pounds a year.
Start a recycling program for your school. If you already have one, evaluate the current program to find new ways to reduce waste and conserve more materials.
Create an environmental mascot for your school. Have an inner-classroom contest to see who can come up with the best mascot and slogan.
Organize a clean-up day for your school and the surrounding area. Beautification projects such as tree plantings are quick solutions to many common problems.
Walk or bike to school and invite your friends to join you. If you do not have bicycle racks or a safe route to school, tell your school and local officials to add bike racks, safety courses or clubs, and a pedestrian/bike friendly trail to school.
Turn off lights when you're not using them, along with other electronic items such as your computer, DVD player, or printer. You can go even greener by unplugging items you're not using.
Organize to have healthy food served at your school and reduce the availability of junk food, sodas, and other unhealthy options, as well as choosing reusable utensils, trays, and dishes in the cafeteria.
Take shorter or cooler showers because showers account for 2/3 of all water heating costs.
On Earth Day, have everyone write down one way to help the Earth. Take them to your principal and start a daily Help the Earth PA announcement.

About Earth Day Network

Earth Day Network, www.earthday.net, seeks to grow and diversify the environmental movement worldwide, and to mobilize it as the most effective vehicle for promoting a healthy, sustainable planet. It pursues these goals through education, politics, cultural events, and consumer activism. Current grassroots programs include the Climate Change Solutions Campaign, Campaign for Communities, and the National Civic Education Project. Earth Day Network works with more than 105,000 K-12 teachers in the United States alone. In 2006, EDN launched Earth Day Television, greatly expanding its reach to a global network of more than 15,000 partners and organizations in 174 countries. More than 500 million people participate in Earth Day civic activities, making it the largest secular civic event in the world.

Habbo Takes Creativity and Self-expression to a New Level

Thu, 01 February 2007 08:21:00 EET

- The world's fastest growing online community for teens introduces Habbo Home, uniting a virtual world and social networking in a completely new way

Helsinki, Finland, February 1, 2007 – HABBO, one the world's largest and fastest growing online destinations for teens takes on the social networking world by introducing a totally new and versatile feature, Habbo Home. This is the first time that a virtual world is tightly linked to a social networking site. Following Habbo's country roll-outs there will be customizable Habbo Homes available to all Habbo fans. Currently there are over 70 million registered Habbo community characters in 29 countries.

Habbo Home allows all Habbo community members to create their individual Habbo Home pages by customizing the layout and then adding their own innovative touches. The appeal of Habbo Home is that it gives community members a further opportunity for integrating personal expression with creativity. Now the members have a chance to express themselves and use their ingenuity in a completely new way. The Habbos' identity and favored activities within the online community are viewable to everyone from a centralized location. In addition, celebrities, artists, and select brands will also be invited to have official Habbo Home pages.

Social Networking Habbo Style

Habbo takes a gigantic leap towards social networking with the introduction of this product - in its own style. Within the Habbo community, users create their own identity and accentuate their self-expression without real-life restrictions. Habbo Homes are an extension of this. With the fully customizable pages, the idea is to show your Habbo personality to your friends and potential friends.

The wide selection of layouts and decorative elements give the users millions of options in presenting their Habbo personality. These choices include e.g. an extensive selection of different backgrounds as well as fully customizable stickers, sticky notes and widgets. On the page users can show various info about their Habbo life, e.g. Habbo character info, friend lists, room descriptions and Habbo game score listings. The Habbo Home page is tightly linked to the virtual world: with a click of a button you can e.g. access the user rooms shown on the page.

Habbo Home provides companies and brands with a completely new and exciting way of building their brand value among teenagers around the world. By sponsoring certain elements in Habbo Home, the partner gives Habbos the opportunity to decorate their pages with cool objects, but free of charge.

Safety is a key priority in Habbo

Habbo prides itself in offering premium safety features for both the Habbo Online Community and the new Habbo Home pages. In addition to the safety moderation activity and the language filtering tool "Bobba filter", the Habbo Home concept has a user activation system including buttons that immediately allow users to report inappropriate content.

For more information, contact:

Juhani Lassila, Communications Manager, Sulake Corporation, tel. +358 40 541 2365, juhani.lassila@sulake.com

Habbo / Sulake press images: www.sulake.com/pressroom_material.html.

Lionsgate and Habbo team up to let millions of teens decide the fate of a Hollywood movie

Wed, 17 January 2007 07:17:00 EET

- Innovative step in new media will allow Habbo users worldwide to determine the viability of an animated feature film based on the Habbo virtual world taking place online January 2007

SANTA MONICA, CA/LOS ANGELES, CA, January 17, 2007 – Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF), the leading independent filmed entertainment studio, goes viral this January as the company, identifying the next step in new media opportunities, has partnered with HABBO, one of the world's largest online communities for teenagers, to allow today's teens to determine the fate of a Habbo animated release. Utilizing this interactive technology, Lionsgate will tap directly into the online community for feedback on a potential filmmaking endeavor with Habbo. Starting on January 15, "Habbos" will be able to view ten very different animated shorts based on the Habbo World, which will be posted on Habbo.com and local Habbo sites around the world and voted on by the millions of registered users of these sites. The animated shorts were created in a variety of styles - from CGI to flash to 2-D animation by renowned animation houses from around the world. The "Habbos" will have the option to vote on whether or not Lionsgate should produce and distribute a longer feature film based on their feedback on the animated shorts.

These ten "Habbo"-sodes will be available for 14 days, where registered users will be invited into the venue to screen the shorts and vote "HABBO movie or not!" Based on the resulting vote, Lionsgate and Habbo will determine whether to green light a full-length film, even using this input to determine the genre and animation style of the movie. The resulting film would be released both on DVD and online, distributed by Lionsgate.

"Lionsgate has established itself as a true leader in the distribution of family entertainment and innovative marketing. Through this unique partnership with HABBO, we are going directly to the online community and putting the power in their hands by allowing them to determine what movie they want to see," said Michael Rathauser, Vice President of Marketing, Lionsgate. "This partnership with Habbo will also provide us with valuable information and the opportunity to explore new and different targeted electronic distribution platforms for content that resonates within a very defined audience. It's an exciting new world of opportunity."

"We're proud to announce our partnership with Lionsgate. We were previously approached from several major studios. However, Lionsgate stands out as an expert in the teen film market and they share Sulake's commitment to quality, innovation and fun," said Teemu Huuhtanen, President, North America, Sulake Corporation.

"Habbo-sodes were submitted by key animation studios located around the world and we appreciate the immense talent contributed to this project. The opportunity to now position Habbo as a leading distribution and promotional channel of all digital content from video to music is tremendous. Furthermore, by integrating our millions of Habbo users into this project, we will be spearheading a new kind of user-generated content as we empower them with the ability to determine the future of this animated film," he added.

This partnership between Lionsgate and HABBO marks the second time the two companies have collaborated to create a unique online experience for consumers. In July 2006, HABBO.com hosted a virtual red-carpet premiere event for Ultimate Avengers 2, the highly-successful direct-to-DVD Marvel Animated Feature. Tens of thousands of Habbos attended the screening, which was the first time the online community was able to view 10 full minutes of a never-before-seen film prior to its release.

The animations can be seen at www.habbo.com/community/animation.

About Lionsgate

Lionsgate is the leading independent filmed entertainment studio, winning this year's Best Picture Academy Award® for CRASH, generating two consecutive years of $300 million-plus domestic theatrical box office, operating a $500 million-plus home entertainment business and producing a broad slate of prime time television series for fiscal 2007. It is a premier producer and distributor of motion pictures, television programming, home entertainment, family entertainment, and video-on-demand content. Its prestigious and prolific library of more than 10,000 titles is a valuable source of stable, recurring revenue and a foundation for the growth of the Company's core businesses. The Lionsgate brand is synonymous with original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the world.

For more information, contact:

FOR LIONSGATE:

Adam Fenton/Lauren McCabe, Bender/Helper Impact, tel. +1-212-689-6360, adam_fenton@bhimpact.com, lauren_mccabe@bhimpact.com
Jodie Magid/Jennifer Sandler, Lionsgate, tel. +1-212-386-6885/+1-310-255-4072, jmagid@lionsgate.com, jsandler@lionsgate.com

FOR SULAKE:

Juhani Lassila, Communications Manager, Sulake Corporation, tel. +358 9 681 22 70, juhani.lassila@sulake.com

Sulake ranks as the 12th fastest growing technology company in Europe

Wed, 29 November 2006 09:17:00 EET

-Sulake's sustained revenue growth percent was 8 095% over the last five years

Helsinki - 29th of November 2006 – Sulake Corporation, the creator of Habbo - one of the world's fastest growing teen online communities - was ranked 12th in Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 EMEA list. Sulake is an interactive entertainment company focused on online communities, casual multiplayer games and social media. Sulake was also the fastest growing Nordic technology company on the list. Last year, Sulake was ranked 8th in the same European ranking.

The Technology Fast 500 EMEA is a program that ranks the fastest growing technology companies in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), highlighting both established and emerging technology companies. Fast 500 measures sustained revenue growth of over five years. The growth of Sulake has been rapid and consistent. Sulake's growth percent over the last five years was 8 095%.

Sulake's main product Habbo is a richly colorful, multi-dimensional virtual world, online community and game environment for teens. Currently there are Habbo communities in 29 countries on five continents. To date, over 66 million Habbo characters have been created and 7 million unique users worldwide visit Habbo each month (source: Nielsen Netratings, October 2006).

"Ranking close to the top ten fastest growing tech companies in Europe for the second time in a row is a remarkable achievement and shows that our growth has been really consistent during the last years. The success of Habbo has continued also during 2006 and we are expecting solid growth for 2007 as well," comments Timo Soininen, CEO of Sulake Corporation.

"Sulake has successfully created its own global marketplace with excellent people, strong investors and right timing. Being global and local at the same time has been the engine for growth," comments Deloitte partner Matti Copeland in Helsinki.

For more information, please contact:
Timo Soininen
CEO, Sulake Corporation
Tel. +358 10 656 7000
timo.soininen@sulake.com

Sulake promotes Teemu Huuhtanen to President, North America

Mon, 20 November 2006 11:11:00 EET

Huuhtanen also serves as Executive Vice President, Business Development for Sulake Corporation and its Online Community Habbo

Los Angeles, CA, November 20, 2006 – Teemu Huuhtanen has been promoted to the position of President, North America and Executive Vice President, Business Development for Sulake Corporation. Previously he held the position of SVP of Sales and Business Development. Sulake's virtual world and social networking site for teens, Habbo, is one of the world's fastest growing online destinations for teens. Sulake is an interactive entertainment company specialized in developing, publishing and distributing multiplayer online games and communities, like Habbo.

Habbo has been a leading online community for major brands and entertainment/music celebrities to reach teens. North America features 20 million end-user created Habbo characters and more than 2 million Habbo members visit the community each month. Brands such as Sprite, L'Oreal, and Wal-Mart have all taken part in successful integrative and interactive campaigns within the Habbo world.

"Habbo's ability to deliver compelling content for key brands and music labels has made it a leading innovator for integrated consumer advertising," Huuhtanen said. "I believe we've just seen the tip of the iceberg when it comes to opportunities virtual worlds can offer brands, and we intend to continue to deliver premiere campaigns with unique, exciting elements that will appeal to the demanding North American teen audience."

Previously, Mr. Huuhtanen served as VP, Sales & Marketing, for Sulake at its headquarters in Finland since January of 2003. Prior to this, he has held several senior posts in consumer & B2B sales & business development functions for several international digital start-ups such as Small Planet, a mobile application company, as EVP and the CEO of Orchimedia, a mobile & internet entertainment company. Huuhtanen has studied at Kuopio Polytechnic and University of Kuopio.

For more information, please contact:
Kristi Blicharski / Kenn Henman
aLine media
+1-310-371-8795
Kristi@alinemedia.com / kenn@alinemedia.com

Teenagers around the world are selective in their media use habits

Thu, 19 October 2006 11:18:00 EEST

- Global youth study published: over 42,000 participants

HELSINKI, Finland, October 19, 2006 – Sulake Corporation, the creator and developer of Habbo, one the world's fastest growing online destinations for teenagers, has published the largest global youth study conducted from Finland to date. The research, which was carried out in 22 countries, consisted of respondents from the Habbo Internet online community. The results include various findings on, e.g., media usage, music preferences and subcultures. More than 42,000 teenagers took part in the research.

Internet is the most important media; the importance of newspapers grows with age

89 per cent of respondents from around the world stated that the Internet is the most used media for them; the most important Internet services being instant messaging and e-mail.

According to the research, the main reason for Internet usage in general is socializing; keeping in touch with friends is important. Instant messaging is most popular among 14 to 18-year-olds, whereas e-mail is growing in popularity among those aged 20 years and above.

Only 66 per cent of the respondents think television is an important media, and less than half consider radio as such.

54 per cent of all the respondents think magazines are important, but newspapers were only thought important by less than 40 per cent of the respondents. The importance of newspapers grows with age and passes magazines and radio among 22-year-olds.

Mobile phones are used for various purposes

85 per cent of the global respondents say they own a mobile phone. The study shows that in addition to phone calls, nearly everyone owning a mobile phone uses it to send SMS messages. SMSs are more used in Europe than they are in the USA and Canada. Half of the respondents say they also use their phones for taking pictures. Nearly a third of the respondents listen to MP3 music with their mobile phones.

Using a mobile phone as a camera and MP3 player was considered extremely popular in Great Britain and Italy. Surfing the web with your mobile is still fairly uncommon among the respondents, apart from Japan, where 43 per cent of the respondents state they use it for this purpose. So far, only 6 per cent of the respondents watch television with their mobile.

Green Day and Eminem the most popular bands globally

88 per cent of the respondents are particularly interested in listening to music. Music is considered an important element of youths' lives because they are able to express their identity through music. The three most popular music genres are pop, rock and hip hop.

Rock is enormously popular in the USA, Canada, Australia, Brazil and Portugal. In France the number one spot is held by R&B, soul and funk, whereas in Great Britain the most popular genre is hip hop.

According to the research, the most popular bands globally in May 2006 were Green Day and Eminem.

Heterogenic youth belong to various subcultures

A variety of subcultures exist, some of them only in certain countries.

Although youth around the world have similar values, beliefs and attitudes, they are nonetheless an extremely heterogenic group. Even the largest subcultures identified in the study consisted of barely half of the respondents. The study shows that, in general, the respondents have a positive self-image and think of themselves as successful and popular. Over half of the respondents consider themselves adventurers. This reflects the importance of gaining new experiences and having fun for teenagers all over the world.

Only in Norway and Japan the number of adventurers was smaller than the other countries, but even there over 40 per cent say they belong to this group. Half of the respondents regard themselves as sporty. According to the study, 46 per cent of the participants think of themselves as trendy, 40 per cent as artists and 36 per cent state they are interested in the environment. Over a third of the respondents identify themselves as technology freaks and 16 per cent say they are nerds. A minority of 14 per cent of the respondents classify themselves as hippies or goths.

The global Habbo youth study was conducted by 15/30 Research in May 2006. The participants consisted of 42,000 Habbo users in 22 countries. The majority of the respondents were 12 to 16 years old. The average age of the respondents was 15 years, and the gender distribution was very even. 75 per cent of the respondents live in urban areas, often with their parents. Those under 14 years old needed permission from their parents to take part in the survey. The study was arranged by Sulake Corporation and it will have a follow up.

For more information, please contact:

Juhani Lassila, Communications Manager, Sulake Corporation, tel. +358 9 681 22 70, juhani.lassila@sulake.com

Emmi Kuusikko, Director, User Insight, Sulake Corporation, tel. +358 9 681 22 70, emmi.kuusikko@sulake.com

Movida Group, a SoftBank and Asian Groove joint venture, invest EUR 6 million in Habbo, the leading online teen community and brand

Mon, 10 July 2006 11:27:00 EEST

Tokyo, Japan, July 10, 2006 – Sulake Corporation, which operates the leading online teen community Habbo, has started a new strategic cooperation in Japan. Movida Group – a joint venture by SoftBank BB Corp. and Asian Groove – has agreed to invest 6 million Euros of equity into Sulake Corporation. The investment is executed through Movida Investment International.

Sulake is an interactive entertainment company focused on online communities and casual multiplayer games. Sulake was established in 2000 and it has more than doubled its annual revenues each year.

Sulake is an interactive entertainment company focused on online communities and casual multiplayer games. Sulake was established in 2000 and it has more than doubled its annual revenues each year.

Sulake's main product is Habbo, a new type of youth brand based on Habbo Hotel, one of the world's fastest growing online communities for teenagers. To date, over 53 million Habbo characters have been created, with close to seven million unique users visiting the Habbo community each month worldwide. The Habbo brand is currently being extended also to include e.g. animation series as well as merchandising and licensing products.

Movida Group is a joint venture by SoftBank BB, a SoftBank Group company, and Asian Groove, one of Asia's leading interactive entertainment companies.

Timo Soininen, CEO of Sulake Corporation, commented:

"We are happy to have such respected companies as our partners. Their investment and know-how will help us to grow both the Habbo Online community as well as new Habbo brand extensions, such as Habbo Mobile."

Taizo Son, President of Asian Groove, commented:

"Habbo Hotel has very superior functions as an online community, and we believe it has an enormous growth potential in Japan. We would like to utilize our Group synergy and support Habbo not just in Japan but also in the rest of Asia."

About Sulake:

Sulake is an interactive entertainment company focused on online communities, casual multiplayer games and social media. Sulake's main product is Habbo, a new type of youth brand, which is based on one of the world's fastest growing online communities for teenagers - Habbo Hotel. There are localized Habbo Hotels in 18 countries on five continents supported by a payment network spanning 30 countries. To date, over 53 million Habbo characters have been created and close to 7 million unique users worldwide visit Habbo communities each month (source: Nielsen Netratings, June 2006).

The main shareholders in Sulake include Taivas Group, 3i Group plc, Elisa Group and Benchmark Capital followed by the company's founders Sampo Karjalainen and Aapo Kyrölä, Sulake's CEO Timo Soininen and other personnel.

Sulake has headquarters in Finland and offices in 17 countries. Currently the company has 270 employees worldwide. Sulake is extending the Habbo brand to include e.g. animation series as well as merchandising and licensing products.

www.sulake.com
www.habbo.jp

About Movida Group:

Movida Group, held by Movida Holdings Inc., is a joint venture founded in December 2005 by SoftBank BB Corp. and Asian Groove. Movida Group companies are focused on a wide range of broadband contents, from gamesto web services and applications.

www.movida.jp

About SoftBank BB:

SoftBank BB Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of SoftBank Corporation, is providing Internet contents, fiber to the home (FTTH), IT related distribution and services.

www.softbankbb.co.jp

About Asian Groove:

Asian Groove, founded in 1996 by Taizo Son, is a holding company of broadband online entertainment companies.

www.asian-groove.com

For more information, please contact:
Juha Hynynen, COO, Sulake Corporation Oy, tel. +358 50 3889485
Takahito Uezono, Country Manager/Representative Director, Habbohotel Japan KK, takahito.uezono@sulake.com

Finnish Engineering Award presented to Sampo Karjalainen and Aapo Kyrölä

Wed, 31 May 2006 11:31:00 EEST

- the creators of the virtual Habbo Hotel gaming community

HELSINKI, Finland, May 31, 2006 - Sampo Karjalainen and Aapo Kyrölä, the creators of the virtual Habbo Hotel gaming community, have been awarded this year's Finnish Engineering Award this year. The Finnish Association of Graduate Engineers, TEK, and Tekniska Föreningen i Finland, TFiF, granted the 20,000 euro award for developing and commercializing the software technology of Finnish computer games. The award winners have developed the Habbo Hotel gaming community and product family, and established Sulake Corporation Oy, the company, which manages the brand.

Habbo Hotel is a virtual gaming community operating in 18 countries on five different continents. There are already over 50 million registered Habbo characters and over 7.1 million users visit the hotel every month. Habbo Hotel is particularly designed for 13 to 16 year-olds; in fact the largest user group consists of teenagers. Precise Habbo Way etiquette, which promotes good behavior and non-violence, is followed within Habbo Hotel.

Sulake's head office is located in Helsinki and there are also offices in 17 other countries. The company, established in 2000, employs 270 workers world-wide and 170 in Finland. The company's turnover was nearly 30 million euros in 2005. Currently, the Habbo brand is being expanded into mobile games and content, animation production and different real world products.

According to the jury, the software concept has been quickly utilized and commercialized in the developing international markets and the project has shown innovation and technological expertise. Habbo Hotel was created with personally developed, Java-based FUSE technology. The technological implementation demonstrates the skills of the creators, e.g. scaling works fluently supporting an environment full of simultaneous users. The award is also recognition of the know-how of the software technology for computer games created in Finland in recent years.

The Finnish Engineering Award is annually presented to a person or a team that has greatly advanced technical expertise in Finland. Creative effort, originality and practical implementation of an idea or theory are distinctive features of winning engineering works. Economic viewpoints also receive attention in the assessment. The award was presented for the first time in 1981.

The Finnish Engineering Award was presented this year in Helsinki on 31st of May.

For more information, please contact:
Sulake Corporation Oy, Communications Director Paula Biveson, tel. +358 9 681 22 70
TEK, Unit Director Pekka Pellinen, tel. +358 9 229 121

Sulake Corporation selected for the 2006 Red Herring 100 Europe list

Mon, 08 May 2006 11:29:00 EEST

- Award Recognizes the 100 "Most Promising" Firms Driving the Future of Technology

HELSINKI, Finland, May 8, 2006 - Red Herring today announced that Sulake Corporation is a recipient of Red Herring 100 Europe, a selection of the 100 private companies based in the EMEA region that play a leading role in innovation and technology.

Sulake is an interactive entertainment company focused on online communities and casual multiplayer games. Sulake's main product is Habbo, a new type of youth brand, which is based on one of the world�s fastest growing online communities for teenagers - Habbo Hotel.

"Market obstacles remain but our list shows that great companies are being created in Europe," said Red Herring editor-in-chief Joel Dreyfuss.

Red Herring's lists of top private companies are an important part of the magazine's tradition of identifying new and innovative technology companies and entrepreneurs. Companies like Google, eBay and Skype were spotted in their early days by Red Herring editors as those that would change the way we live and work.

Red Herring's editorial staff rigorously evaluated more than 700 private companies through a careful analysis of financial data and subjective criteria, including quality of management, execution of strategy, and dedication to research and development.

To honor the CEOs of Red Herring 100 Europe companies, Red Herring has invited each CEO to present his or her company at its Venture Market Europe 2006 conference, a forum for technology's most exciting companies to share their insights on the future of innovation and the entrepreneurial journey. Scheduled for May 8-10, at the Westin Paris, this intimate, three-day conference will explore the trends, technologies and people affecting the IT sphere in the EMEA region. Last year's optimistic outlook has been revisited and reflected in the 2006 theme "Old World, New Hope - 100 Reasons to Believe in Europe�s Innovative Edge."

For more information about Sulake Corporation, please contact press@sulake.com.

About Red Herring

Red Herring, Inc., founded in 1993, is a media company whose mission is to cover innovation, technology, financing and entrepreneurial activity. Its staff of award-winning journalists tell readers what's first, what matters and most importantly, why.

Red Herring is dedicated to thorough research, relevant metrics deep financial analysis, in-depth reporting, crisp writing and thoughtful debate. We are a skeptical, intelligent and trustworthy source of information in technology business. Our primary obligation is to provide the most relevant, honest and independent information and analysis to our audience, with the conviction that an exceptional editorial product is the best catalyst for success and the best way to serve our advertisers and investors. Our content is original, compelling and actionable for industry executives and entrepreneurs.

A privately held company, Red Herring, Inc. is headquartered in Belmont, California. For more information visit www.redherring.com

Habbo Hotel wins the Prix Möbius Nordica competition

Tue, 02 May 2006 11:46:00 EEST

- Habbo Hotel awarded main prize, the "Grand Prix" and also claims the "Prix Innovation" award

HELSINKI, Finland, May 2, 2006 - HABBO HOTEL, one of the world's most popular online destinations for teenagers, won the main prize "the Grand Prix" in Prix Möbius Nordica, a competition for interactive media and culture. Habbo Hotel was also nominated as a winner in the "Prix Innovation" category.

In its sixth year, Prix Möbius Nordica aims to promote creativity and innovation especially in the field of interactivity. The competition closely considers each submissions' potential for international distribution. The final with six finalists was held in Helsinki last Friday.

As a winner of the Nordic competition, Sulake Corporation, the company behind Habbo Hotel will participate to the Prix Möbius International Competition in Montreal, Canada, in October 2006. Prix Möbius International is a competition focused on cultural productions and products. It is supported by e.g. UNESCO, CNRS and the European Union.

"We are very glad and honored to accept these awards and we're very proud to represent the Nordics at the international competition," comments Sampo Karjalainen, co-founder of Sulake Corporation. "The key to Habbo Hotel is interactivity and self-expression which we believe were the most important criteria for the judges."

In selecting the Prix Möbius Nordica winners the judges focused on creativity and innovation especially in relation to interactivity. Other criteria included high-class aesthetic and technical production, chosen expressions in relation to content and target audience, market perception, and international potential.

Habbo Hotel is a virtual meeting place and a game environment aimed at teens aged 13 to 18. The attraction of Habbo Hotel is based on the camaraderie of a community and the opportunity for self-expression and creativity. Users join Habbo Hotel by creating a fully-customized online character called a Habbo. From there, users explore the many public areas, play a wide range of games, connect with their friends, decorate their own rooms, dance by the pool, and most of all: have fun by being creative.

Globally the Habbo Hotel concept has now been introduced in 18 countries on 5 continents. Currently Habbo Hotels attract over 7 million unique visitors per month and there are over 50 million Habbo characters created worldwide.

For more information, please contact: Juhani Lassila, Communications Manager, Sulake Corporation Oy, tel. +358 40 541 2365, juhani.lassila@sulake.com

Press images: www.sulake.com/pressroom_material.html

Sulake's Habbowood Campaign wins Internet Advertising Competition Award

Mon, 03 April 2006 11:52:00 EEST

Habbowood was awarded the Best Entertainment Intergrated ad campaign

HELSINKI, Finland, April 3, 2006 - Sulake Corporation, one of the world's fastest growing interactive entertainment companies, has won an Internet Advertising Competition (IAC) Award from the Web Marketing Association for its fall 2005 Habbowood campaign. The Habbowood campaign was awarded as the Best Entertainment Integrated Ad campaign. The campaign was promoting Habbo Hotel, an online community and game targeted to teenagers. Habbowood campaign was designed by Sulake and produced by two other Finnish companies Valve Branding Oy and Taivasmainos Oy.

The basic idea behind the Habbowood Film Challenge was to offer Habbo users a new kind of possibility to use their creativity. The participants were given the chance of being real film directors with the opportunity to name their movie and characters, write the transcript and shape the genre by choosing a suitable soundtrack. The short films included different setups and moods ranging from creepy horror to romance.

One user could create as many films as he/she liked. The films could be also sent further to friends. The campaign was conducted in 16 countries during fall 2005. During the six week period there were over 400,000 Habbowood films made and the campaign site got over 2 million page impressions.

Now in its seventh year, the IAC WebAward Competition has become the premier event for web developers and marketers each year. The contestants in the competition were scored on seven criteria: creativity, innovation, design, copywriting, use of medium, memorability and impact. Habbowood campaign clearly fulfills all the criteria.

Habbowood is here again!

Habbowood 2006 is currently running in 16 Habbo Hotels around the world. The successful concept has been made more demanding and this time the users are invited to be directors, scriptwriters and promoters at the same time. They can create their own movie script, select the cast and direct their movie, using tools available at Habbowood, as well as promote their own project. Fame-hungry moviemakers need to get their friends to vote for their movie � the film with most votes will win fame and glory as well as other cool prizes in Habbo Awards Gala event after the campaign.

Habbowood can be found at www.habbohotel.com/habbowood.

More information about the IAC competition: http://www.advertisingcompetition.org/iac/whyiac.htm

Habbo Hotel's movie experience inspires hundreds of thousands teenagers around the world

Wed, 29 March 2006 11:56:00 EEST

In Habbowood participants get to direct their own movie and promote it to other Habbo Hotel users

HELSINKI, Finland, March 29, 2006 - HABBO HOTEL, one of the world's largest and hottest on-line destinations for teenagers, introduces the ultimate film making and promoting contest of 2006: Habbowood! Starting in late March or beginning of April depending on country, the campaign is a sequel to the first Habbowood, arranged in 2005. It inspired youngsters from around the world to direct over 400 000 movies. This year's campaign will be even bigger and of course more fun!

The basic idea in Habbowood 2006 is that the participant gets to be a movie director and a promoter at the same time - just like in its real-life equivalent Hollywood. The task list is simple:

Create your own movie script, cast the actors and direct the film using Habbo Hotel's enhanced movie making tools
Promote your movie in Habbo Hotel (and elsewhere) and get your fans to vote for your movie
Win fame and glory as well as cool prizes!

Promoting can be hard work as also the campaign slogan suggests: "Do you have what it takes?" The most voted films will get besides fame and glory in Habbo Hotel, also great prizes! The winners will be announced in a Habbo Hotel gala event arranged after the campaign in Habbo Hotel.

Habbowood studios are open for all directors and promoters now at www.habbohotel.com/habbowood.

Worldwide online community success Habbo Hotel opens its doors for Portuguese users

Tue, 28 March 2006 12:00:00 EEST

SÃO PAULO, Brazil / LISBON, Portugal, March 28, 2006 - HABBO HOTEL, one of the world's most popular online destinations for teenagers, has now opened a new virtual hotel for Portuguese users both in Brazil and Portugal. The Portuguese Habbo Hotel is number 18 in the global chain of Habbo virtual communities.

Habbo Hotel is a virtual meeting place and a game environment aimed at teens aged 13 to 18. The attraction of Habbo Hotel is based on the camaraderie of a community and the opportunity for self-expression and creativity. Users join Habbo Hotel by creating a fully-customized online character called a Habbo. From there, users explore the many public areas, play a wide range of games, connect with their friends, decorate their own rooms, dance by the pool, and most of all: have fun by being creative.

Globally the Habbo Hotel concept has now been introduced in 18 countries on 5 continents. Currently Habbo Hotels attract over 5.4 million unique visitors per month and there are over 45 million Habbo characters created worldwide.

"We are really delighted to open up an own Habbo Hotel for Portuguese users," comments Simonetta Lulli, Regional Director, Sulake Corporation. "User generated content is the essence of Habbo Hotel and we hope that teens in Brazil and Portugal manage to make the new community as lively and interesting as in other countries. I�m confident that this will happen," Lulli continues.

Habbo Hotel is created and operated by Sulake Corporation, an interactive entertainment company that is specialized in developing, publishing and distributing multiplayer online communities and games, like Habbo Hotel.

In Brazil and Portugal Sulake works closely with its partners Abril, Clix and SuperPop in order to make the community experience as interesting and exciting as possible.

The Portuguese Habbo Hotel can be found at:
www.habbo.com.br
www.habbo.pt

For more information please contact:

Brazil: Ricardo Cianciaruso, Country Manager, Sulake Corporation, tel. +55 11 9602 7141, email: ricardo.cianciaruso@sulake.com
Portugal: Simonetta Lulli, Regional Director, Sulake Corporation, tel. +34 617420776, email: simonetta.lulli@sulake.com

Worldwide online community success, Habbo Hotel, to open up in China - Sulake and Optic Communications sign strategic partnership

Thu, 26 January 2006 01:05:00 EET

BEIJING, China, January 26, 2006 - Sulake Corporation, one of the world's fastest growing interactive entertainment companies and owner of the Habbo Hotel concept, and OPTIC Communications Co. Ltd. (OPTIC Dreamz Division), a subsidiary of CITIC Pacific Limited, a listed company on the Hong Kong stock exchange and the largest conglomerate in the APAC region, have signed an agreement in order to launch Habbo Hotel in China. The Habbo Hotel online community has been a worldwide success as it provides a unique experience for teenagers.

Habbo Hotel is a virtual meeting place and a game environment for teens. The attraction of Habbo Hotel is based on the camaraderie of a community and the opportunity for self-expression and creativity. Users join by creating a fully-customized online character called a Habbo. From there, users explore the many public areas, play a wide range of games, connect with their friends, decorate their own rooms, dance by the pool, and most of all: have fun by being creative.

Habbo Hotel in China will be operated by license by OPTIC Dreamz. The Chinese Habbo Hotel will have its own localized features, but it will offer Chinese users the same possibilities to play, meet others and have fun as other Habbo Hotels. The public can register through the Habbo marketing site at www.habbochina.com

Globally the Habbo Hotel concept has already been introduced in 16 countries on 4 continents. Currently Habbo Hotels attract over 5.4 million unique visitors per month. With its 130 million Internet users China is already the largest market for online games and communities, providing major growth opportunity for the Habbo- concept.

"We are very excited about our partnership with OPTIC Dreamz. Strong commitment and the resources of CITIC Pacific Group combined with the experienced team at OPTIC Dreamz makes them just the right kind of partner for us. Together we are building Habbo into a new kind of youth brand rooted in a richly colorful virtual community in China," says Mr. Timo Soininen, CEO of Sulake.

"We foresee the evolving change of the Internet arena in China and we believe that Habbo Hotel will bring new excitement and life to our users in China. That is why we have created a new division within OPTIC that we call "Dreamz", with the sole objective of designing an integrated enhanced virtual community platform. We are very delighted that we have sealed the partnership with Sulake and we strongly believe that it will create a new type of online community experience in China," comments Mr. Raymond Cheung, Executive President, OPTIC Dreamz.

For more information please contact:

Mr. Timo Soininen, CEO, Sulake Corporation, tel: +358 9 681 2270, email: timo.soininen@sulake.com
Mr. Raymond Cheung, Executive President, OPTIC Dreamz, tel: +86 010 8518 5778, email: raymondcheung@dreamz.cn

www.sulake.com
www.habbohotel.com
www.habbochina.com
www.Dreamz.cn

About Sulake:
Sulake Corporation is an interactive entertainment company. It specializes in developing, publishing and distributing multiplayer online communities and games, like Habbo Hotel. Sulake was established in 2000, and it has more than doubled its annual revenues each year since then, and this growth continued during 2005.

The main shareholders in Sulake include Taivas Group, 3i Group plc, Elisa Group and Benchmark Capital followed by the company's founders Sampo Karjalainen and Aapo Kyrölä, Sulake's CEO Timo Soininen and other personnel.

Sulake has localized Habbo Hotel communities in 16 countries on four continents: North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. The company headquarters is in Finland and there are Sulake offices in 17 countries. Currently Sulake has more than 230 employees worldwide.

About OPTIC and OPTIC DREAMZ:

OPTIC Communications Co., Ltd is a fully owned subsidiary of CITIC Pacific Limited, it is a new hi-tech enterprise integrating research and development, operation and distribution of entertainment software, with licenses in operating nationwide computer information network / Internet Service Provider (ISP), ICP LAN and also Internet Publishing Title to develop and operate games.

Founded in February 1999, OPTIC marched its way into online game industry in March 2003. Currently, OPTIC deals with five main business domains including online game operation, wireless business operation, software R&D, Internet Game Center and products marketing, with eight branches as its affiliation, respectively in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Xi'an, Jinan, Chengdu and Shenyang.

In 2005 OPTIC started a new division called "DREAMZ" with the main aim of creating and developing an enhanced online virtual community platform for the Chinese internet users. Dreamz aims to be the No.1 producer of online community events and products in China, complimenting all existing internet brands and services. OPTIC will continue to rely on its superiority of rich resources and experience, working hand in hand with overseas partners on development and research, marketing and services of entertainment products. OPTIC main aim is to provide enjoyment, knowledge and wisdom to our customers through entertainment; and it is our destination to become the most respectable company in this field.

Habbo Hotelin luojat palkittiin Opetusministeriön Suomi-palkinnolla

Thu, 08 December 2005 01:12:00 EET

Kulttuuriministeri Tanja Karpela luovutti tänään Sampo Karjalaiselle ja Aapo Kyrölälle kuvataiteen Suomi-palkinnon. Palkinto on kulttuuriministerin ja valtiovallan antama tunnustus ja samalla kiitoksenosoitus lupaavasta läpimurrosta. Sampo Karjalainen ja Aapo Kyrölä ovat luoneet Habbo Hotel -konseptin, nuorille suunnatun yhteisöllisen online-pelimaailman.

Palkinnon perustelujen mukaan Karjalaisen ja Kyrölän työ muodostaa perustan yhdelle uuden median ensimmäisen vuosikymmenen suurimmista menestystarinoista. Parhaiten heidän työnsä arvo näkyy siinä, että Habbo Hotel -konsepti tarjoaa suurelle joukolle nuoria turvallisen, valvotun ja vapaasti hyödynnettävän tilan keskinäiseen kommunikaatioon, konsultointiin, luovuuteen ja leikkiin.

Kulttuuriministerin mukaan tämä palkinto tulisi ymmärtää myös tunnustuksena Karjalaisen ja Kyrölän luovasta pioneerityöstä maailmankulttuurin uudessa ulottuvuudessa ja heidän edelleen jatkuvasta toiminnastaan suomalaisen designin ja yhteiskunnallisen kekseliäisyyden lähettiläinä.

"Suomi-palkinto on meille suuri kunnia. Olemme erityisen tyytyväisiä siitä, että saimme tunnustusta sekä luovuudesta että Habbo Hotelin kulttuurisesta merkityksestä", totesivat Sampo Karjalainen ja Aapo Kyrölä.

Habbo Hotel -pelimaailmassa käyttäjät luovat hotelliin omat hahmonsa, joiden avulla he seikkailevat ja kommunikoivat muiden käyttäjien kanssa. Habbo Hotelin suosio perustuu yhteisöllisyyteen, itseilmaisuun ja omien luovien ideoiden toteuttamiseen. Habbo Hotel toimii tällä hetkellä 16 maassa ja lähes 4,5 miljoonaa käyttäjää vierailee hotelleissa kuukausittain. Suomen Habbo Hotel -sivustolla käy kuukausittain yli 280.000 yksittäistä käyttäjää. Habbo Hotel -konseptin omistaa ja sitä pyörittää Sampo Karjalaisen ja Aapo Kyrölän vuonna 2000 perustama yritys Sulake Corporation Oy.

Lisätietoja:

Sampo Karjalainen, Chief Creative Officer, Sulake Corporation Oy, puh. 09 - 681 2270
Aapo Kyrölä, hallituksen jäsen, Sulake Corporation Oy, puh. 09 - 681 2270
Paula Biveson, viestintäjohtaja, Sulake Corporation Oy, puh. 09 - 681 2270

Creators of Habbo Hotel receive the "Finland Prize" from the Ministry of Education

Thu, 08 December 2005 01:10:00 EET

Helsinki, Finland, 8th of December, 2005 - Ms. Tanja Karpela, Minister of Culture, awarded Mr. Sampo Karjalainen and Mr. Aapo Kyrölä the Finland Prize (Suomi-palkinto) for pictural art today. The prize is awarded as recognition by the Minister of Culture and State authorities, as well as a token of gratitude for a promising breakthrough. Sampo Karjalainen and Aapo Kyrölä are the creators of the Habbo Hotel, an online community and game for teenagers.

The prize merits state that with their work Karjalainen and Kyrölä have laid a foundation for one of the greatest success stories of the first decade of new media. The best manifestation of the value of their work is the fact that Habbo Hotel offers a safe, controlled and free-to-utilize space for a large group of teenagers to interact, communicate, exploit their creativity and play.

According to the Minister of Culture, this prize should also be seen as recognition of Karjalainen's and Kyrölä's creative pioneering work in the new dimension of global culture, as well as their ongoing efforts in promoting Finnish design and social resourcefulness.

"Receiving this prize is a great honor for us. We are particularly happy to receive recognition, not only for creativity but also for the cultural significance of Habbo Hotel," Sampo Karjalainen and Aapo Kyrölä state.

In the Habbo Hotel world users create a customized character in the hotel and then play and communicate with other users through these characters. The attraction of Habbo Hotel is based on the camaraderie of community and the opportunity for self-expression and creativity. At the moment, Habbo Hotel functions in 16 countries with nearly 4.5 million visitors monthly. The Finnish Habbo Hotel site attracts over 280,000 single users each month. The Habbo Hotel service is owned and operated by Sulake Corporation Oy, a company established by Sampo Karjalainen and Aapo Kyrölä in 2000.

For more information please contact:

Sampo Karjalainen, Chief Creative Officer, tel. +358 9 681 2270
Aapo Kyrölä, Board member, Sulake Corporation Oy, tel. +358 9 681 2270
Paula Biveson, Communications Director, Sulake Corporation Oy, tel. +358 9 681 2270

www.sulake.com

www.habbohotel.com

Sulake Euroopan kahdeksanneksi nopeiten kasvanut teknologiayritys

Thu, 01 December 2005 01:17:00 EET

Online-yhteisöihin ja peleihin keskittynyt Sulake Corporation Oy sijoittui kahdeksanneksi Deloitten Technology Fast 500 EMEA -listalla. Kisassa etsittiin Euroopan, Lähi-idän ja Afrikan (EMEA) -alueen nopeiten kasvaneita teknologia-alan yrityksiä. Kisaan saivat osallistua vähintään viisi vuotta toimineet teknologiayritykset, ja sijoitus laskettiin viimeisen viiden vuoden liikevaihdon prosentuaalisen kasvun perusteella. Sulake oli kymmenen parhaan joukossa ainoa yritys, joka toimii sisältötuotannon ja vuorovaikutteisen viihteen alueella.

Sulakkeen kasvu on ollut vauhdikasta ja kasvuprosentti oli peräti 8 173. Sulakkeen perustamisvuoden 2000 liikevaihto oli 165 000 euroa ja vuoden 2004 liikevaihto nousi 13,7 miljoonaan euroon. Kuluvan vuoden liikevaihdon odotetaan jälleen kaksinkertaistuvan.

Sulakkeen päätuote on Habbo Hotel, nuorille suunnattu pelimaailma. Se on toiminnassa 16 maassa neljällä eri mantereella. Maailmanlaajuisesti Habbo Hotel -sivustoilla vierailee 4,4 miljoonaa yksittäistä käyttäjää kuukaudessa. Habbo-hahmoja on luotu jo lähes 40 miljoonaa. Sulake on laajentamassa Habbo-brandia yhteisöllisen pelimaailman lisäksi mobiilituotteisiin, animaatioon ja reaalimaailman tuotteisiin.

"Sijoittumisemme kahdeksanneksi Deloitten Technology Fast 500 EMEA -listalla on todellinen saavutus", kertoo Timo Soininen, Sulakkeen toimitusjohtaja. "Sen on mahdollistanut Habbo-konseptin yleismaailmallisuus ja hyvä skaalautuvuus. Habbo-idea kiinnostaa nuoria maasta ja kulttuurista riippumatta. Valtava kasvuvauhti on vaatinut myös lahjakasta ja sitoutunutta henkilöstöä kaikkialla toimipisteissämme. He ovat kasvattaneet Sulakkeen start-up-yrityksestä maailmanluokan toimijaksi."

"Nelinumeroinen kasvukäyrä antaa melkoisen todisteen yrityksen ja sen tuotteiden laadusta. Sulake on näyttänyt, että sillä on edellytykset vahvaan kasvuun", totesi Deloitten Technology Fast500 EMEA -projektista vastaava osakas Karel Bakkes.

Lisätietoja:

Timo Soininen, toimitusjohtaja, Sulake Corporation Oy, puh. +358 9 681 2270

Paula Biveson, viestintäjohtaja, Sulake Corporation Oy, puh. +358 9 681 2270

Sulake among the ten fastest growing technology companies in Europe

Thu, 01 December 2005 01:15:00 EET

- Sulake ranked 8th in Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 EMEA -listing

Helsinki, Finland, December 1st, 2005 Sulake, the creator of Habbo Hotel - one of the world's fastest growing teen online communities - was ranked 8th in Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 EMEA list. Sulake is an interactive entertainment company specializing in developing, publishing and distributing multiplayer online communities and games. Sulake was the only company representing interactive entertainment and content creation in Top 10 companies.

The Technology Fast 500 EMEA is a program that ranks the fastest growing technology companies in Europe, Middle East and Africa, highlighting both established and emerging technology companies. Fast 500 measures sustained revenue growth of over five years. The growth of Sulake has been rapid and consistent. Sulake's growth percent over the last five years was astonishing 8173 %.

Sulake's top property, Habbo Hotel, is an online game environment designed for teens. There are localized Habbo Hotels in 16 countries spanning 4 continents: Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. Globally Habbo Hotel sites are visited by 4,4 million unique users per month. Nearly 40 million Habbo characters have been created to date. Sulake is currently extending its Habbo brand from online to new areas, such as animation, merchandising and lisencing, and mobile content and games. Habbo is a new type of global teen brand build upon an online community.

"Ranking 8th in the list of 500 fastest growing technology companies in the EMEA region is an impressive accomplishment. This has been possible through universal and highly scalable concept that attracts users from all over the world. Our tremendous growth is also due to our competent and dedicated staff world wide, who have helped transform Sulake from a startup company to a well-established global player in the interactive entertainment industry", according to Timo Soininen, Sulake CEO.

For more information please contact:

Mr. Timo Soininen, CEO, Sulake Corporation, tel. +358 9 681 2270

Habbo Hotel and Sulake Win in SIME'05 Awards

Fri, 11 November 2005 01:26:00 EET

- Habbo Hotel Online Community Wins Best Entertainment Content and Sulake Wins Best E-Commerce Company at Scandinavia's Biggest Internet Competition

Helsinki, Finland, November 11th, 2005 - Sulake Corporation, the creator of teen online community Habbo Hotel, was extremely successful in SIME'05, Scandinavian Interactive Media Event, also referred to as the "Grammy awards" of Scandinavia's Internet industry. SIME competition gathered over 600 contestants, which competed in 11 different categories.

Sulake's flagship product, Habbo Hotel, was chosen as the Best Entertainment Content. The prize was awarded to Habbo Hotel as a site leveraging the web to deliver and produce pioneering online content enjoyed by readers, members, clickers and fans alike.

Habbo Hotel has already attracted users to create 37 million Habbo characters to the game and the number of unique monthly users is already over 4.3 million.

"The attraction of Habbo Hotel is in the community. Habbo Hotel is all about making and meeting friends and having fun together online. It's not traditional consumable entertainment; participation is the key," comments Sampo Karjalainen, Chief Creative Officer and a Founder of Sulake.

Sulake itself was awarded as the Best E-Commerce Company. The jury was looking for a company with an excellent customer proposition, a site with great user-experience and a management understanding how to win market-shares online.

"Sulake has developed an incredibly sophisticated and dynamic eCommerce infrastructure particularly suited to our customer demographic and product portfolio. Our global payment network currently spans 24 countries and includes online, offline and telco payment methods. Our mobile payment network alone supports direct Mobile Operator billing in 20 countries", says Ken LeDrew, Sulake's eCommerce Director.

"We are constantly expanding and developing our payment network so that it is scaleable, flexible, usable and profitable. We are very proud to accept these awards and thank SIME for selecting Sulake."

For more information please contact:

Ms. Paula Biveson, Communications Director, Sulake Corporation, tel. +358 50 512 3001, paula.biveson@sulake.com

Mr. Kenneth LeDrew, e-Commerce Director, Sulake Corporation, tel. +358 400 334 024, Kenneth.ledrew@sulake.com

About Sulake: Sulake is an interactive entertainment company. It specializes in developing, publishing and distributing multiplayer online communities and games, like Habbo Hotel. Sulake was established 2000, and it has more than doubled its annual revenues each year since that, and this growth is expected to continue during 2005.

The main shareholders in Sulake include Taivas Group, 3i Group plc, Elisa Group and Benchmark Capital followed by the company's founders Sampo Karjalainen and Aapo KyrÃ¶lÃ€, Sulake's CEO Timo Soininen and other personnel.

Sulake has localized Habbo Hotel communities in 16 countries on four continents: North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. To date, more than 37 million Habbo characters have been created, with over 4.3 million unique users visiting Habbo Hotel each month.

Sulake has headquarters in Finland and offices in 14 countries. Currently Sulake has more than 220 employees worldwide.

www.sulake.com

www.habbohotel.com

Habbo Islands On The N-Gage Platform Offers Adventure Holiday To Habbo Hotel Guests

Thu, 13 October 2005 01:35:00 EEST

Barcelona, Spain, October 13, 2005 - Nokia and Sulake, a Finnish interactive entertainment company and creator of the famous Habbo Hotel, today announced Habbo Islands, the first mobile game created to connect to the Habbo Hotel community. Habbo Islands offers an exotic, fun-filled adventure vacation to both existing Habbo Hotel users as well as people experiencing Habbo for the first time.

Habbo Islands, situated in a peculiar small world of its own on the southern hemisphere in the Habbo World, combines adventure, simulation, management and socializing in a unique way. Habbo Islands, a new part of the Habbo experience, is a single player adventure world where players can visit in dynamic environments and exciting adventures. During the island vacation, players will be able to connect with friends in Habbo Hotel via Habbo Console. Twenty adventures, ranging from building a zoo and saving the Blue Faced Pandas to having a rodeo competition, take place in four different environments, such as the pirate lagoon and the beach party island. Players can meet amazing animals like the Slightly Insane Koala, Micro Elephant, Walking Mega Plant, and the Cropped Zebra-Giraffe.

"Habbo Islands is another example of how Nokia is widening its title portfolio into new, innovative and exciting areas. Habbo Hotel is an extremely successful on-line community and therefore we believe this collaboration will attract new fans to the N-Gage platform," said Gregg Sauter, Director, Games Publishing, Nokia.

"We are very excited to extend the Habbo community to a new kind of platform, offering a new Habbo experience for both our existing users as well as totally new audiences. On Habbo Islands players can experience unique and fun adventures on the go, and at the same time keep in touch with their Habbo Hotel friends," said Sampo Karjalainen, Chief Creative Officer and Founder, Sulake.

Habbo Islands, exclusive to N-Gage platform, is expected to be available for consumers during the second half of 2006.

Gorillaz live at Habbo Hotel

Sat, 17 September 2005 01:39:00 EEST

- The world famous cartoon band will host virtual live sessions with teen fans around the world

Helsinki, Finland, August 17, 2005 - HABBO HOTEL, one of the worlds largest and hottest on-line destinations for teenagers, will host a special VIP visit in August and September 2005. The two-dimensional super group Gorillaz will visit Habbo Hotels in 12 countries between August 22 and September 2. Gorillaz fans around the world will get an exclusive opportunity to meet their favorite band in an exciting live session or in an exclusive private interview.

Habbo Hotel is a virtual meeting place for teenagers and young adults. The attraction of Habbo Hotel is based on an active community and the opportunity for self-expression and creativity. Teens join by creating a fully customized online character persona called a Habbo. From there, users explore the vast hotel where they can hang around and make friends with other Habbos, play a wide range of games, party and dance, create and decorate their own room, meet their real life favorite celebrities - the interactivity and options are virtually limitless. Habbo Hotel is operating at the moment in 16 countries and more than 4 million unique visitors check in to the hotel each month. Habbo Hotel is owned and operated by Sulake, an interactive entertainment company.

The world's most successful virtual band, Gorillaz are the perfect candidates for visiting the virtual Habbo Hotel "in person". The band is invited to Sulake's office to host the sessions, which will last for an hour per each country. The band members are given computers from which they log into Habbo Hotel and the specific theatre where the visit is organized. The room is cleared by the moderators every 10 minutes, so that as many Habbos as possible can meet the band and ask questions. After this massive live event, a private interview with a limited amount of lucky fans will take place in specially furnished guest rooms, decorated in the honor of Gorillaz.

"In Habbo Hotel Gorillaz can meet their fans in an intimate and exciting environment. The Hotel also gives Gorillaz a unique opportunity to be themselves," the band explains. "We feel that Habbo Hotel is a cool hang-out-place for teenagers and we're hoping to answer as many questions as possible."

Gorillaz is an animated hip-pop collective, comprised of 2D (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass), Noodle (guitars) and Russel Hobbs (drums, percussion). The bands eponymous debut album, released in 2001, sold more than 6 million records worldwide and spawned the infectious singles Clint Eastwood and Tomorrow Comes Today. The highly-anticipated follow-up Demon Days was released earlier this summer and has produced the instant smash hit Feel Good Inc. Gorillaz' virtual band persona and mesmerizing, cutting-edge music videos have helped further its appeal and placed the group and its members at the forefront of current pop culture icons. Second single DARE will be released in late August. More information about the band can be found at www.gorillaz.com

For more information about Habbo Hotel and the Gorillaz visit, please contact: Sulake Corporation, Juhani Lassila, Communication Manager, tel. +358 40 541 2365, juhani.lassila@sulake.com.

Sulake wins Deloitte's Technology Fast50 competition

Thu, 15 September 2005 01:37:00 EEST

The interactive entertainment company Sulake Corporation was announced the winner of Deloitte's first Technology Fast50 competition in Finland. Since 2002 The Deloitte Technology Fast EMEA program has ranked the 500 public and private high-tech companies based in EMEA, which have achieved the fastest rates of annual revenue growth over a five year period. In the Finnish Fast50 competition there were 50 companies listed. The younger companies were entitled to join in the Rising Star competition. The winner of the local Technology Fast50 competition is automatically eligible to participate in the EMEA Fast500 competition.

Sulake was established in 2000, and it has more than doubled its annual revenues each year. The first year revenue was 165.000 euros and the revenue for 2004 was 13,7 million euros. The successful first half of year 2005 gives reason to expect similarly high revenue growth for this year.

Sulake specializes in developing, publishing and distributing multiplayer online communities and games. The main product is Habbo Hotel, a youth-oriented game environment. Sulake has localized Habbo Hotel communities in 16 countries on four continents. The Chinese version of Habbo Hotel will be launched before the end of this year. To date, almost 34 million Habbo characters have been created, with over 4.1 million unique users visiting Habbo Hotel each month. Sulake is also extending the Habbo brand to include mobile games and content, animation series and merchandising products.

Sulake has its headquarters in Finland and offices in 14 countries. Currently the group has more than 210 employees worldwide. The main shareholders include Taivas Group, 3i Group plc, Elisa Group and Benchmark Capital followed by a vast number of company employees.

Deloitte is one of the leading professional services firm in Finland providing audit, tax, consulting and financial advisory services. Deloitte refers to Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, an organization of member firms around the world devoted to excellence in providing professional services and advice, focused on client service through a global strategy executed locally in nearly 150 countries. With access to the intellectual capital of 120.000 people worldwide, Deloitte serves more than one-half of the world's largest companies.

For more information: Mr. Timo Soininen, CEO, Sulake Corporation, tel. +358 50 564 8269