NEWS - Wednesday, December 4, 2002
550,000 Splinter Cells Replicated
Sonopress LLC, a global leader in media services and turnkey operations, today announced that it completed mass-production of more than 550,000 units of Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell(TM), the widely-popular stealth-action adventure game for the Xbox(TM) video game system from Microsoft. The game is developed and published by Ubi Soft® Entertainment, one of the world’s leading videogame publishers. Using the advanced replication technology at its Weaverville, NC facility, Sonopress was able to complete the replication and packaging of the game in less than a week’s time. DITAN Distribution, a leading retail distribution service provider specializing in direct-to-store distribution of time-sensitive products, partnered with Sonopress to ensure that the game would be available to retail outlets, wholesalers and distribution centers prior to the game’s November 18 launch date. The number of units ordered by Ubi Soft is the largest launch for an Xbox game in the console’s history. "Sonopress and DITAN Distribution were large contributors to the incredibly successful launch of Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell," said Rich Kubiszewski, vice president of operations for Ubi Soft Entertainment. "We presented Sonopress with an enormous challenge in terms of the sheer volume of units we needed to meet the demand of consumers. The game was not finalized until just prior to the release date, yet we had confidence that Sonopress’ replication capabilities, combined with the on-site distribution solution of DITAN, would enable us to meet our deadline and put the game on store shelves." Sonopress was named an Authorized Replicator (AR) for Xbox in 2001. This status qualifies Sonopress to support publishers worldwide with their requirements for replication, packaging and distribution of Xbox games. "Sonopress has established proficiencies within the Xbox Program as an Xbox Authorized Replicator," stated Mike Quinn, Xbox General Manager, Microsoft, "Sonopress continues to exhibit outstanding technical expertise, complete commitment to customer care and a strong focus on the protection of customer content." "Our customers look to us for their replication, packaging and distribution needs because they know we have the industry expertise and capabilities to meet their critical content to market deadlines," said Jeff Miner, account manager for Sonopress LLC. "Considering the volume, the order from Ubi Soft Entertainment was a daunting challenge, but one that we were well-equipped to overcome. Knowing that Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell is in such high demand from the consumer public, we are very pleased that we played such an integral part in Ubi Soft’s success with this title."Source: http://www.ubisoft.com/
