Explosive Growth in 1998 Will Propel HEAT.NET toOnline Gaming Leadership in 1999 and Beyond.

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 23, 1999--

HEAT.NET roars into 1999 with key partnerships,

exclusive games, player incentives

Who says online gaming hasn't taken off? With a near quintupling of its membership, a tripling of its selection of multiplayer games, a

meteoric increase in advertising impressions, a new network deal and two major strategic agreements to secure national broadband distribution, SegaSoft's HEAT.NET experienced explosive growth in 1998 and is well-positioned to lead the online gaming market into the new millennium.

HEAT.NET, the fast, free online gaming service with the largest selection of games, will continue to lead Internet gaming - a category that industry analysts estimate will be worth $1.6 billion in 2001, a better than tenfold increase over 1998 revenues(1) - by putting together winning combinations of games, strategic partnerships, and player incentives.

"At HEAT.NET our focus is on providing our core gamers with the very best online community. Offering broader content might give us a numbers boost, but our long-term objective is to build the Web's best gaming community," said Sarah Anderson, SegaSoft vice president and general manager of HEAT.NET. "Through the right mix of technology, partnerships, incentives and, above all, games, we have achieved everything we set out to do in 1998, and are well on our way to building that community. Our formula works, our numbers prove it, and we're ready to keep on rocking into 1999 and beyond."

HEAT.NET 1998 Milestones

Membership in HEAT.NET has quintupled to nearly one million users, fueled by excellent word-of-mouth in the gaming community about its technology, services and topnotch multiplayer titles. Already in 1999, HEAT.NET membership grew by an additional 20 percent in January alone.

The roster of games available at HEAT.NET more than tripled in 1998. More than 100 titles are available for play, compared with 26 titles one year earlier. HEAT.NET worked in partnership with some of the industry's top developers and publishers, such as id Software, GT Interactive, 3DO, Interplay and Activision, among others, with exclusive agreements and special promotions for titles and launch activities throughout 1998.

HEAT.NET's growth was also spurred by such incentives as Degrees, frequent player points redeemable for goods and services throughout the entire site. HEAT.NET players earned Degrees, cash and other prizes worth more than $500,000 in 1998. Tournaments and other special events drew many additional new members to the network.