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Hi-Rez Studios Selects Aria Systems as Billing Solutions Provider

Video Game Developer Chooses On-Demand Billing Leader to Execute its "Global Agenda"

March 26, 2009 – San Francisco, CA - Aria Systems, the leading provider of on-demand billing and customer lifecycle management, today announced that its A+ Billing Platform has been selected by Hi-Rez Studios, an independent developer of online games, to monetize its new massive multi-player online (MMO) game “Global Agenda.” Showcased at this week’s Game Developers Conference, the A+ Billing Platform enables Hi-Rez Studios to ramp and manage “Global Agenda’s” billing and customer management activities and processes.

Faced with the challenge of needing a billing and customer management system that could scale quickly and on-demand in real time, Hi-Rez Studios chose Aria Systems for its years of gaming industry experience. And, making its foray into the market with Global Agenda, Hi-Rez Studios sought a reliable billing solution that offered its players complete payment security. Hi Rez puts its faith in Aria Systems as the launch’s stakes were high for both the company and its players, especially as the players put their “virtual lives” at risk.

"Billing is a critical component of running any massive multi-player online game," says Stewart Chisam, Vice President of Game Operations at Hi-Rez Studios. "By partnering with Aria, we leverage their global reach and years of experience with MMO billing, and greatly simplify our deployment by using their unique and secure Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform. That gives us great confidence that we'll be able to adapt to our players' needs in this area - and keeps us as a Studio focused on the efforts of building a great game."

Aria Systems’ A+ Billing Platform is the first and only end-to-end PCI Level 1 compliant, enterprise-class billing platform offered in a highly flexible SaaS based environment. This creates a powerful-but-simple, self-service experience for companies who want to self-manage their complex billing procedures. “Managing the billing process for online games can be incredibly complex, especially with MMO games that acquire large, global communities of online users, as they often quickly grow in popularity,” said Ed Sullivan, CEO of Aria Systems. “By selecting Aria System’s flexible and scalable SaaS billing platform, Hi-Rez Studios will be ensured that its billing will be properly executed no matter where players are in their ‘Global Agenda.’”

About Hi-Rez Studios, Inc.

Hi-Rez Studios, Inc. was established in 2005 to create exceptional online interactive entertainment. It is located just outside of Atlanta, GA. For more information, visit http://www.hirezstudios.com .

Global Agenda, the debut title from Hi-Rez Studios, is a fast-paced, action-oriented, massive multiplayer online game set in the Earth’s near future — a spy-fi world of advanced technology and player-driven conflict. To learn more visit: http://www.globalagendagame.com .

About Aria Systems

Aria Systems is the leading provider of on-demand and subscription billing solutions encompassing the full spectrum of Billing and Customer Lifecycle Management services. The A+ Billing Platform offers clients the industry's most secure, flexible, and scalable tool for accelerating revenue capture, optimizing cash flow, and enabling actionable market intelligence while significantly reducing operating costs throughout each phase of the customer lifecycle.

Aria is the SaaS billing leader in terms of experience, execution, and reliability. The company has handled over one million accounts, and managed more than one billion transactions, since its inception in 2003. Additionally, Aria leads the market in security and compliance having achieved both end-to-end PCI Level 1 Compliance and SAS70 compliance.

Aria’s executive team has over 80 years combined experience in billing and 50 combined in SaaS, and is backed by investments from Hummer Winblad Partners, Venrock, and Dave Labuda, former CEO of Portal Software (acquired by Oracle). The company is headquartered in Media, Pa. (metropolitan Philadelphia), and has offices in the San Francisco bay area. For more information, visit www.ariasystems.com .