POTENTIAL 200,000 ONLINE GAMERS TO BE ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN VOLVO OCEAN RACE 08/09
GENUINE INTERFACE BETWEEN THE REAL AND VIRTUAL CREW MEMBERS
by Lucy Harwood
Green Dragon is pleased to announce a unique partnership with bwin, United Games, and the Volvo Ocean Race Game. Via a sophisticated virtual-to-real navigation system the Volvo Ocean Race game-community will be actively involved with Green Dragon during Leg 7 of the Volvo Ocean Race from Boston to Galway starting on May 16. This will be the first time an online gaming community has been in active communication with a professional sporting team during a live competition.
Every twelve hours during leg the Volvo online game community will be sent a poll from the skipper and navigator onboard Green Dragon. This poll will be introduced by a description of the current situation (weather, waves, crew, etc), as well as a forecast of what is going to happen over the next 24/36/48/72 hours. The poll will hold at least three possible navigational options for the route ahead. The online community will vote and the results of that poll will then be communicated by Volvo Event Management UK to the entire Volvo Ocean Race fleet as they race across the North Atlantic. The crew onboard Green Dragon will make a decision after the results of the poll to see what to do and in doing so create a genuine interface between the real and virtual crew members. Green Dragon will then, at the discretion of the Skipper and Navigator, follow the option which received the majority of votes from the gaming community. The poll’s content will be automatically picked up by the Volvo Ocean Race game website and placed highly visible for players on the site.
The Volvo Ocean Race virtual game allows sailors to play and compete against the official Volvo Open 70 fleet which races around the world. About 200.000 active players have joined the game already, with participants from over 185 countries. The game has become the largest online sailing community in the world. The Volvo Ocean Race game is published and organized by UnitedGames, a leading European publisher of online MMO Games. The company currently develops and publishes over 20 Massive Multiplayer Games and has over 3 million daily players from 180 countries.
“We are very excited to be part of such a pioneering and exciting project. This joint effort between real and the virtual world could be an immense milestone for the future of online gaming and I am sure that this is only going to be the first step,” Marijn Harinck - CEO United Games
Following the exchange of contracts today in Boston, bwin joins Green Dragon as a partner alongside a Chinese syndicate made up of three companies; Shandong Lingong, Weichai Power, Triangle Group, and the Swedish based BERG Propulsion. Discover Ireland.com is also a partner sponsor and is promoting Ireland as a tourism destination through their participation in the Volvo Ocean Race. As the worlds leading provider of online gaming entertainment bwin demonstrates once again its technology-leadership and innovative spirit. bwin enables the first online community guided yacht at the Volvo Ocean Race together with United Games, one of Europe’s leading developer of online MMO Games. bwin sets a new benchmark in combining the virtual and the real world.
“This virtual-real-teamwork idea is fascinating,” commented Green Dragon skipper Ian Walker. “It will be a completely new experience for us and will add a new dimension to sailing. We are really looking forward to this joint adventure”.
About bwin
The bwin Group has over 20 million registered customers in more than 25 core markets. Under various licenses (e.g. in Germany, Italy and Gibraltar), it operates platforms for sports betting, poker, casino games and games through subsidiaries and associated companies. With the world’s widest selection of online sports betting supplemented by audio and video streaming of major sporting events such as matches of the German Soccer League, as well as one of Europe’s largest poker networks, bwin offers incomparable online gaming entertainment. The parent company bwin Interactive Entertainment AG has been listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange since March 2000 (ID code BWIN, Reuters ID code BWIN.VI). Further information about the Company can be found on its investor relations website at www.bwin.org
About UnitedGames
UnitedGames is a leading European publisher of online MMO Games. The company currently develops and publishes over 20 Massive Multiplayer Games and has over 3 million daily players from 180 countries. Website: www.unitedgames.com
Green Dragon Racing
Volvo Ocean Race
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