Giant Interactive Group (GA) has secured an exclusive license to operate Empire of Sports, a new sports-based massively multiplayer online role playing game, until September 15, 2011.

Empire of Sports Ltd. owns the rights to the game and is a joint venture founded by Infront Sports & Media and F4, a European computer game development company. Empire of Sports, the first online-game developed by Empire of Sports Ltd., represents a virtual sports world, in which players assume the role of a single character throughout the entire game.

Wei Liu, president of Giant, commented in a press statement, "We are very excited to announce this new licensing agreement. The sports game genre remains a largely untapped market in the Greater China region, and we believe Empire of Sports represents an ideal entry point and growth opportunity for Giant. With the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games nearing, we believe interest in sports-related games is poised to increase. Given the high quality, professional design and input from respected sports authorities on the development of Empire of Sports, coupled with our leading nationwide sales and marketing network, we believe Giant will be well positioned to capture share in the growing sports game market."