Linktone Ltd. (Nasdaq: LTON), a provider of wireless value-added services in China, today announced that it has signed an agreement to provide a fantasy soccer game, "EPL Dream Team," to Chinese mobile users on both its short messaging service (SMS) and wireless access protocol (WAP) platforms.
The game, which uses official English Premier League data provided by PA Sport, is the first-of-its-kind in the country. Linktone expects to launch the product commercially in October 2004.
An interactive and multi-player game, EPL Dream Team assigns the virtual roles of managers and coaches of several soccer teams to players, who are able to buy soccer players at various price levels to assemble complete teams, establish team strategies and compete with each other. The final winner is determined by total points accumulated by game players through an entire game season. Simulating real EPL game experience, EPL Dream Team aims to capitalize on the fantasy sporting interests of millions of soccer fans in China. The game is also being launched in Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore via local distributors.