The second edition of the Volvo Ocean Race Game is breaking records! In less than 4 weeks, more than 120,000 players from around the world have joined the Volvo Ocean Race game 2011-2012. Also, over 60,000 players have already downloaded the application for the game for Iphone or Android.
“We are thrilled to see so many people enjoying the Volvo Ocean Race Game. It’s great to see the level of competition on one hand and the social interaction on the other,” says Marijn Harinck, CEO of UnitedGames. “ This constant relationship between players and even the real teams is very rewarding to our team and we’re looking forward to the next 8 legs”.

The game mirrors the real Volvo Ocean Race,whereas the players have to sail around the world with the same weather and wind conditions as the real teams are facing.
Joining up is easy, just create your account and name your boat.  After a short tutorial, you will find yourself on the virtual oceans of the Volvo Ocean Race Game. In order to be competitive, you need to find the right strategy by analyzing  the weather forecast. The Volvo Ocean Race Game is a perfect game mixing fun and strategy for a wide audience that enjoys sailing and competing against friends.
The Volvo Ocean Race game comes with huge prizes as well. The overall winner gets  a brand new Volvo  XC60 Ocean Race Edition and there are tons of other prizes to win, such as trips to Stop Over ports and even exclusive IWC watches. A virtual race to real prizes!
The second legrace to Abu Dhabi will start this Sunday December 11^th, so sign up and join the largest online sailing community now!

Play Volvo Ocean Race Game at: www.volvooceanracegame.com

Volvo Ocean Race Game on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/VolvoOceanRaceGame

Iphone app:  Get it here!

Android app:  Get it here!

In addition to the web client, UnitedGames will make the virtual race available on iPhone, iPad and Android-based smartphones enabling players access to their game 24/7. To give players a chance to familiarise themselves with the new client, game-controls and the behaviour of the boats, a trial virtual GOR race of around 1,000 miles will be launched shortly before the GOR’s start in Palma, Mallorca, on the 25th of September this year.

The UnitedGames virtual GOR will be free to play, though performance enhancing upgrades including advanced autopilot systems and sail wardrobe additions can be purchased. Unique prizes will be awarded to online skippers throughout the five ocean legs and nine months duration of the GOR. Revenue from the GOR game will help to support the GOR’s registered charity, the Global Vision Sailing Trust: a foundation created to introduce under-privileged young people to sailing and its core values via a dinghy sailing programme with a fleet of RS Vision dinghies shipped around the world from Palma to each of the GOR stopover ports.

“We are absolutely delighted to have contracted with UnitedGames for the Virtual Global Ocean Race,” says Josh Hall, Race Director of the GOR. “The company’s professionalism and the quality of their product will ensure that our virtual skippers will have leading edge, reliable access to their virtual boats throughout the event,” he continues. “With the ever-increasing popularity of virtual racing we anticipate at least 150,000 virtual skippers to sign up and race against each other and, indeed, against the real boats,” Hall believes. “We wanted to be sure they had the best available platform and it is clear to us that UnitedGames are at the very forefront of this technology. Onwards to the future!”

“We are excited to be producing the virtual Global Ocean Race,” adds Marijn Harinck, CEO of UnitedGames. “We feel the virtual Global Ocean Race is a great addition to our portfolio. The 30,000 miles race means it’s the perfect challenge for the technical accomplishments we have made in developing our online sailing games. The accurate tracking of the weather data supplied by PredictWind will be instrumental in letting players perform in the race exactly like they want to ,” he mentions. “Combined with new platforms on which to play the virtual game, we expect more and more players to enjoy the thrill and excitement of the Global Ocean Race!”

Links

• Global Ocean Race 2011-12
• PredictWind

Wormerveer – December 6th, 2010

This social branded game developed by UnitedGames is played on Facebook, where players can train their own virtual players as teammembers of Real Madrid in order to win a coveted position in the team set-up by earning Experience and Match Points.

During the training players can earn and trade various items and players cards with other players to win these Match Points,whoever earns the most of them can win fabulous prizes. Players can train towards each Real Madrid match in the European league, earning more and more points while they open up new training options.

Earned Match Points can even be wagered on the outcome of the match itself, using a unique fun betting environment giving players the chance to show off their insights into professional football as well. Raise Up The 10th turns every match into a game and gives players the opportunity to play with Real Madrid!

Raise Up the 10th can be found on Facebook via the following URL:
http://apps.facebook.com/raise-up-the-tenth/

The new toy for Volvo Ocean Race fans has been improved with new features introduced to enhance the technical and tactical elements for the players. There will be more functionality for players to steer and manage their virtual Volvo Open 70s and their crew at the same time, and the new In-Port racing feature will be another exciting addition.

Knut Frostad, CEO Volvo Ocean Race is pleased to continue the partnership with UnitedGames. “This is great news for the Volvo Ocean Race, as the Game was a huge success story from the past edition. It caught so many people’s imaginations and got thousands of people hooked into offshore racing.

“Of course, you can play the game from your home,” he said, “but for some of the players, they were just as sleep-deprived as the crews on the boats; many people took it very seriously indeed. We can’t wait to see the improvements and get the feedback from the fans. I am sure this edition of the game will be even more of a success than the last.”

The new version will be interactive with today’s Web 2.0 technology and accessible from more platforms. Marijn Harinck, CEO UnitedGames, said, “We’re excited to continue to work together with the Volvo Ocean Race. We’re committed to create an even more engaging challenge for our players this time.

“The new version of the game will offer tons of new features including advanced weather options, routing options and integrated social media elements such as Twitter,” he enthused. “The game will also be playable on social networks as well as on the leading smartphone platforms making it easier for players to stay on the right course.”

The new online game will be bigger and better than the last version and will be tested prior to the start next year in a Beta version. We will be looking for volunteers to play this test game, and early next year we will publish details on how the public can sign up to be part of the test.

During the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09, hundreds of thousands of players of all ages spent endless hours racing their customized boats and crew up to the finish line on the online game. The offshore skippers were constantly on the alert for weather reports and monitored their yacht’s progression every few hours.

Last race the overall winner was Hugo Zwaal from the Netherlands, sailing his entry Powerof7, who picked up the keys to a brand new C30 at the final prize giving in St Petersburg.

It was the first time Hugo had taken part in any online game, but in very short time the Volvo Ocean Race online game became a family activity. Hugo’s wife Sandra also caught the race fever, skippering ZevenSterk – which just happens to be Dutch for Seven-Power.

The largest online sailing community will set virtual sails again with the start of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011 – 12 in October. You can sign up for newsletters announcing key dates for gamers on the Volvo Ocean Race Game site.