4Kids Entertainment
Chaotic® Trading Card Game Launches Organized Play Program
Wednesday 18 March 2009
2009 Chaotic World Championship Yearlong Tournament Kicks Off April 4th With Special Pre-Release Events for the New
“M’arrillian Invasion: Turn of the Tide™” Booster Series
Registration Opens on Official Organized Play Website www.TCDOP.com
NEW YORK (March 18, 2009) – 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:KDE) and its majority-owned subsidiary TC Digital Games LLC have established the first-ever Chaotic Organized Play Program and have launched its companion Website, www.TCDOP.com, as the official destination for news, information, tournament and event schedules for Chaotic Organized Play across the U.S. and Canada.
Kicking off the Organized Play Program will be special Pre-Release events on April 4th,, which will provide fans with a preview of the latest Chaotic booster series, entitled M’arrillian Invasion: Turn of the Tide, at participating hobby stores throughout North America. For a $20 entry fee, players will receive a participation promo card, five booster packs of previously unreleased cards, and a Chaotic Starter Deck to play in the Pre-Release tournament events.
The core of the Organized Play Program will center around the road to the 2009 Chaotic World Championship. The buildup to the ultimate tournament will start with Regional Championships in April, followed by Battledrome Qualifiers in June, where eligible players will compete for a top spot and the opportunity to play in the Battledrome Championships. The winner of each Battledrome Championship will earn a spot in the Chaotic World Championship and the chance to play for more than $10,000 in prizes.
Another way to earn the opportunity to play in the 2009 Chaotic World Championship will be to finish in the top eight of one of three Perim Tours tournaments. These competitions will be open to all eligible players and will be the largest in scale. They will also have the most exciting prizing structure for all preliminary tournaments, with over $5,000 in prizes up for grabs.
Additionally, a Chaotic “Demo Days” program will kick off in late March at some 150 comic and hobby stores in the U.S. and Canada. Each event will begin with a demo session teaching how to play Chaotic. Once players have learned how to play the game, for a small entry fee, players will have the opportunity to test their skills and enter into a sealed deck tournament for prizes. Hobby stores will be able to register on the TCDOP.com Website to run these types of events at their stores.
During 2008, the revolutionary Chaotic Trading Card game (TCG), which integrates an in-person collectible card game with an online multi-player experience, established itself as the #1-selling TCG in Canada and among the top five trading card games sold at mass retailers in the U.S. Each Chaotic trading card is printed with a unique alphanumeric code that enables players to upload their personal card collection onto www.chaoticgame.com. Supported by the animated television series airing Saturday mornings on TheCW4Kids, Chaotic connects traditional trading card elements with state-of-the-art technology to create a one-of-a-kind interactive gaming experience.
For more information about the Chaotic trading card game, visit www.ChaoticGame.com. For more information about the Chaotic Organized Play Program, visit www.TCDOP.com.
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About 4Kids Entertainment, Inc.
With U.S. headquarters in New York City, regional offices for its trading card business in San Diego, California and international offices in London, 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: KDE) is a global organization devoted to the creation, development, production, broadcasting, distribution, licensing and manufacturing of children’s entertainment products.
Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, 4Kids produces animated television series and films, distributes 4Kids’ produced or licensed animated television series for the domestic and international television and home video markets, licenses merchandising rights worldwide to 4Kids’ owned or represented properties, and operates Web sites to support 4Kids’ owned or represented properties. Through its majority owned trading card company and website company, 4Kids produces and markets collectible trading card games. Additionally, the Company programs and sells the national advertising time in “TheCW4Kids,” the five-hour Saturday morning children’s block which airs nationally on The CW Television Network.
Additional information is available on the www.4kidsentertainment.com corporate web site and at the www.4kids.tv game station site.
The information contained in this press release, other than historical information, consists of forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. These statements may involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in such statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Important factors beyond the Company's control, including general economic conditions, consumer spending levels, competition from toy companies, motion picture studios and other licensing companies, the uncertainty of public response to the Company's properties and other factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations.
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MEDIA CONTACTS:
4Kids Entertainment, Inc.
Barry Stagg Derek Musso
(646) 822-4257 (646) 822-4263