Empire of Sports has unveiled The Kangaroo Open 2009, the first online Tennis Championship for the sports-based MMO. Kick starting the 2009 tennis season, TKO ’09 has officially commenced and will run for two full weeks (until Feb. 1st).As with any live tournament, winners will have the chance to win cash as well as many other prizes which include a racquet signed by none other than former world champion Justine Henin. Runners up can look forward to winning Prince racquets as well as additional tennis ranking points. TKO ’09 is designed to be as true to life as any other major sporting event.
In order to register and participate in TKO ’09, players will need to download the game, which can be found at Empire of Sports. Once inside the Empire, players can purchase their ticket to participate in TKO ’09 by speaking to the kangaroo NPC (Non Player Character), Wally. He can be found standing just outside the beginners’ area. Once players have registered they will embark on a tour across Australia, from Perth to Melbourne, in which they will face many challenges from other competitors. Contestants must compete in a number of matches in order to capture the ultimate prize of being the winner of TKO ’09. However players shouldn’t feel intimidated as there will be different levels of competition to even out the crowd;
- Amateur series – Players ranked 1-15 in tennis can win a cash prize of €750 (£675) , a Justine Henin cap, and 500 Empire of Sports tennis ranking points.
- Experienced series – Players ranked 16-30 in tennis can win a cash prize of €1,000 (£900), a signed Justine Henin t-shirt, and 1,000 Empire of Sports tennis ranking points.
- Pro series – Players ranked 31 and above can win a cash prize of €1,500 (£1,350), a signed Justine Henin tennis racket and 2,000 Empire of Sports tennis ranking points.
The full list of prizes can be found at Empire of Sports. Players can enter the tournament at any time throughout the entire event. Fees will range from €3 to €9 depending on entry level and anyone holding a premium account will be eligible for a discounted entry to TKO ’09.
Empire of Sports is the first sports based MMO title to date and can be downloaded for free. It really sounds like a great place for sporting enthusiasts to meet and compete with eachother online. Though this is the first major competition they are holding, tennis is not the only sport available for play. Players can also jump online and play football, basketball, ski-ing, bobsleigh and track and field.
So if you’re a big sports fan and like the online communities of MMO type games, then this sounds like it would be a perfect fit for you. The fact that it’s free to join and play other games at the moment should help pull in more players right now as well. And what better way to get aquainted with the community than a competition? Sounds good to us!
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