Sony Online Entertainment Awards $10,000 Scholarship for Third Annual G.I.R.L. Game Design Competition

SAN DIEGO, June 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) announced today that Sylvia Liu of Milpitas, Calif., has been awarded the 2010 G.I.R.L.-Gamers in Real Life Scholarship. This marks the third year of the scholarship program, encouraging students toward career paths in the creative and applied arts, ultimately resulting in the development of video games that are more enticing for women to play.  

Liu, an entertainment design student, was awarded a $10,000 scholarship to be applied toward her tuition and other educational expenses at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif., and an optional paid internship of up to 10 weeks at SOE's headquarters in San Diego, working on one of the company's hit titles.

"I feel so happy and honored to be chosen as the winner this year," said Liu.  "I worked hard on my submission and am very proud of what I accomplished for this competition.  This opportunity will help me a long way in my career so I can't wait to get started!"

Liu was one of over 200 applicants vying for the scholarship.  Finalists were asked to submit original concept art depicting a new game environment and new characters for either Free Realms™ or EverQuest®II, in addition to an essay discussing their views on women in the video game industry.

"SOE has now paved the way for three female students, giving them the foundation to pursue a career in the video game industry," said Laura Naviaux, Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing, SOE. "We are extremely thrilled to have Sylvia represent the G.I.R.L program this year and we plan to continue our efforts in raising awareness of females in this business by unveiling additional initiatives we're working on later this year."

Julia Brasil, the first recipient of the G.I.R.L. Scholarship, has been a part of the SOE-Seattle team since her internship began in 2008.  Due to her skills and talent as an intern, she remained in Seattle, transferred from The Art Institute-San Francisco to The Art Institute-Seattle and will graduate at the end of the year.

For more information about G.I.R.L., please visit girl.soe.com. To follow G.I.R.L. on Twitter, go to https://twitter.com/SOE_GIRL  or to join G.I.R.L. on Facebook, go to http://tinyurl.com/SOE-GIRL.

About Sony Online Entertainment

Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) is a recognized worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online games, with hundreds of thousands of subscribers around the globe. SOE creates, develops and provides compelling entertainment for the personal computer, online, game console and wireless markets. Known for its blockbuster franchises and hit titles including EverQuest®, EverQuest® II, Champions of Norrath®, Untold Legends™, PlanetSide®, and Star Wars Galaxies, as well as the recent kids' phenomenon Free Realms™, SOE continues to redefine the business of online gaming and the creation of active player communities while introducing new genres on various entertainment platforms. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, with additional development studios in Austin, TX, Seattle, WA, Denver, CO, and Tucson, AZ, SOE has an array of cutting-edge games in development across various platforms and genres for audiences of all ages.

SOE, the SOE logo, EverQuest, Champions of Norrath and PlanetSide are registered trademarks and Untold Legends and Free Realms are trademarks of Sony Online Entertainment LLC. All other trademarks and trade names are properties of their respective owners.

SOURCE Sony Online Entertainment LLC

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