Researchers Find Link Between Immersion and Virtual Buying Habits

Planet Calypso and Florida State University prove selling items in a virtual space can yield better results than print, internet or TV advertising

GOTEBORG, Sweden, July 1, 2010 - First Planet Company, developer and publisher of the largest real cash
economy MMORPG, and Florida State University researchers announced today the
results of a new study on virtual buying habits. First Planet Company and
business scholars at Florida State University and The Stockholm School of
Economics have partnered to develop answers surrounding buying habits in
virtual worlds.

Rob Hooker, recent doctoral graduate from the College of Business at
Florida State University, conducted a new study with far reaching
implications in the MMO and virtual world industries to determine how a
consumer's activity with a brand in a virtual world might influence his/her
intention to purchase the brand's product. The study was conducted during the
recent Miss Calypso beauty pageant on Planet Calypso and proved that the more
immersive an environment is, the more likely a player is to have intent to
buy a product they see. It also showed that virtual worlds have a significant
level of immersion or "Flow." The level of Flow achieved in this study has
proven to be greater than other similar studies based on traditional
advertising mediums.

"This study was successful in demonstrating that an individual's
perceptions of an activity lead to a mental state that creates positive brand
attitudes and subsequent purchase intentions. More specifically, virtual
worlds create opportunities for participants to lose track of time in
enjoyable brand related activities," said Rob Hooker. "This creates a mental
state which contributes to a participant's attitude about a brand.
Ultimately, this strongly influences the participant's intention to purchase
a product from that brand. 63% of participants from this study indicated that
they would purchase Calypso clothing following the activity."

Ultimately, the results of this project will help scientists to develop a
better understanding of cognitive states and aspects of consumer behavior,
while helping businesses to better understand how to more effectively sell
products in virtual environments. For instance Flow, the optimal mental state
a participant has during an activity, is a distinct theoretical construct
that clearly separates from perceptions of the activity, such as clear goals,
lost sense of time, explicit feedback, etc. In certain socially-oriented
activities, such as the beauty pageant conducted within this study,
people/avatars may be more self conscious of their appearance. These higher
levels of self consciousness result in increased levels of Flow. This finding
is opposite of what was previously considered within Flow Theory. Flow
positively impacts both brand attitudes and purchase intention within the
virtual world context.

First Planet Company is the developer and publisher of Planet Calypso,
the largest real economy Massively Multiplayer Online Game in the world.
Players have the ability to participate in a unique virtual world where they
have no monthly costs. Its innovative real money economy uses a virtual
currency which has a fixed exchange rate with the US dollar. This allows
players to deposit and withdraw real funds for their adventures on Calypso or
in the real world. It is also the first MMORPG to use CryTek's stunning
CryENGINE 2 for amazing graphics and physics. Planet Calypso is the oldest
planet in the Entropia Universe and is free to download.

Planet Calypso is a free download available at the game's website,
www.planetcalypso.com.

About First Planet Company

First Planet Company AB is a subsidiary of the MindArk Group. First
Planet Company AB develops and markets Planet Calypso, a Massively
Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) based on the Entropia Platform,
and is part of the Entropia Universe. Set in a distant future, the planet
Calypso is home to an expanding human colony struggling with the natural and
economic elements involved in establishing their new civilization.

For more information on First Planet Company (FPC) and Planet Calypso
please go to our website at www.planetcalypso.com

Frank Campbell, +46-31-607-362, fc at mindark.com, or David Tractenberg, +1-310-453-2050, ext. 111, david at tractionpr.com, both for First Planet Company