Hello Kitty Online (HKO) will make its first public debut in North America at the 2009 Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) in Seattle, Wash., Sept. 4 – 6. Hello Kitty Online brings the world of Hello Kitty and Sanrio friends to life in the first free-to-play Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) based on the global pop-culture icon. Members of the press and PAX attendees are invited to experience a demo of Hello Kitty Online at the Aeria Games booth (# 22). Hello Kitty Online is currently in closed beta and will transition to open beta later in September.
“Hello Kitty gaming fans have long been looking for the ideal level of online community and engagement, and Hello Kitty Online delivers that in a format that will thrive as the fan base continues to grow,” said Grant Wei, executive producer, Aeria Games. “We are proud to have the opportunity to bring one of the world’s greatest characters into the free-to-play PC online gaming space via Aeria Game’s high-quality publishing platforms.”
Developed by Sanrio Digital and published in North America by Aeria Games, Hello Kitty Online invites players to create a fully customizable character and engage with other online players in a world rich in adventure and inhabited by more than one hundred original Sanrio characters and other newly-designed creations. Thanks to the innovative social media features of Hello Kitty Online, players are able to share videos, screenshots, blogs and email messages with other players without leaving the game world.
“Hello Kitty Online was designed to be a fun and interactive social gaming experience that brings Hello Kitty and Sanrio fans and friends together in an engaging MMO setting,” said Robert Ferrari, vice president of publishing and business development, Sanrio Digital. “We look forward to bringing Hello Kitty Online and the integrated SanrioTown social networking site to Hello Kitty fans across North America.”
