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Blazing a trail in the multiplayer online gaming industry, ENGAGE Games Online, which spun off from Interplay Productions in early May, will formally announce within the next two weeks a deal it has struck with Billboard Marketing to offer Billboard Live online. Billboard Live "will simulate a club experience -- a more intimate version of the House of Blues (a nightclub in West Hollywood)" that will offer live performances, celebrity interviews, access to the Top 10 Billboard charts, contest trivia games and chat rooms, said Steve Bradbury, vice president of marketing and development. The deal--one of several the new company has struck with content developers over the past six weeks--is the beginning of what promises to be a stream of such ventures, added Bradbury. "We are constantly making deals," he said, noting that additional deals will be announced within the next several months involving content providers, distributors and investment partners. He declined to provide specifics. (ENGAGE Online Games, Steve Bradbury, 714/223-5911)