SOURCE: Project Entropia

April 25, 2006 09:00 ET

"Virtual City" New Oxford Brings Fashion, Art and Culture to Virtual Community

Entropia Universe Commissions Renowned Artists/Designers, Including Ernst Billgren and Vexed Generation, to Sell and Market "Real-World" Pieces in "Virtual" Galleries and Studios

GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN -- (MARKET WIRE) -- April 25, 2006 -- Entropia Universe, the fastest growing virtual universe utilizing a real cash economy, today announces its latest city on the planet of Calypso, New Oxford, opening on April 28th, 2006. The city will be a center for all arts, including fashion, music and more, featuring an art academy, fashion & design institute, multiple art galleries, a music school and museums. The new city will open windows of opportunity for artists and designers looking for new ways to promote and sell various "real-world" artwork, and also allows professors to give live video lessons within the "virtual" art academies and schools. There are a few big names already taking advantage of the virtual universe as a new means to reach a larger audience, including, Professor Ernst Billgren of the Royal Academy of Art in Stockholm, famous and controversial artist Mark Kostabi, young and upcoming artist Kika Karadi, and Mark DeMuro.

New Oxford offers artists and designers from all over the world the ultimate virtual connection to a massive audience. However, the city not only creates new marketing mediums for artists, but also allows members to purchase virtual designer clothes, artwork, music and more for avatars, as well as for "real-world" delivery on Earth. In its debut, New Oxford will offer three galleries including the "21st Century Fine Art," a subsidiary to the well-known New York gallery, " Björn Ressle Fine Art." The city will also include the latest fashion and trends from designers like Adam Thorpe and Joe Hunter of Vexed Generation in London, an underground clothing company whose innovative designs focus on urban living using intelligent material.

"New Oxford, with it's academies, galleries and shops, truly elevate the already unique online world of Entropia Universe," says Carl Uggla, Director of Marketing and Special Projects for Entropia Universe. "Now, for the first time, individuals can appreciate great artwork and fashion, learn to be an artist or designer through virtual classes, enter contests/win prizes, meet real-world artists, critics and more, in a virtual community. We are even looking into negotiating with legendary musicians, bands and record and film companies to encompass a wide range of entertainment in New Oxford."

The design of New Oxford was done in collaboration with Billgren whose credentials also include painter, sculptor, writer, filmmaker and musician. The city is the latest element of Entropia Universe's massive online community that encapsulates real people and real events to form an online society resembling that of the real world. Entropia Universe will utilize the creation of its "culture city" and other "real-world" features to come to move the community beyond the more traditional online entertainment and gaming.

Entropia Universe is the only virtual gaming community that actively supports sales of virtual products with actual cash value within its real economy system. The economy offers the user a secure and safe way to make purchases, sales and exchange real life currency into PED (Project Entropia Dollars) and back again into real money, at a fixed exchange rate to the US Dollar. PED allows members to invest in personal development and growth through the acquisition of goods, buildings, and land in the virtual universe. In 2005, the Entropia Universe turnover was an estimated $165,000,000 US Dollar.

The heart of Entropia Universe lies in a distant planet named Calypso, encompassing two continents with large expanding cities that offer a variety of entertainment and social interaction for its citizens. Members of Entropia can create their own persona (avatar) via a character generation system, then having the option of choosing a suitable life and virtual existence for their avatar. Characters are able to enter the evolving world full of unexplored and uncultivated lands where they can join a community or even create a civilization of their own. Entropia Universe offers a new way for individuals to pursue dreams and fantasies through an adventurous virtual experience.

In December of 2004, Entropia Universe set a world record, certified by the Guinness Book of World Records, when it sold a virtual Treasure Island for $26,500 USD as the largest virtual dollar amount spent, to 22-year old Australian David Storey, a.k.a. "Deathifier." The recent sale of the Space Resort for $100,000 USD to famed gamer, Jon 'Neverdie' Jacobs, sets a new record for the most valuable virtual item.

About Entropia Universe and MindArk

Entropia Universe is a registered trademark of MindArk PE AB. MindArk supports and monitors the services and maintenance of the Entropia Universe site. MindArk began in April of 2003 in Sweden, and has expanded to have partners throughout the world. Entropia Universe was launched in 2003 and has reached over 400,000 registered accounts. MindArk offers the Entropia Universe software to users free of charge with no monthly costs or associated subscription fees. For more information or to download the free Entropia Universe software please visit www.entropia-universe.com.