14 DAY TRIAL // Michael Jackson, the late, great King of Pop, is set to be immortalized once more through video games, but this time it's through an online multiplayer game, entitled Planet Michael.
The title, developed by SEE Virtual Worlds, will feature a world devoted to the life, music and successes of Michael Jackson, who died nearly 15 months ago.
According to the developer, the game will feature traditional MMORPG attributes, as seen in titles like World or Warcraft or Eve Online, but combine them with music and songs created by the King of Pop.
"We put a focus on something that will truly allow fans to immerse themselves in a Michael Jackson-like universe or music-video-like world and interact with each other and then go on adventures and do gameplay stuff and socialize," says Josh Gordon of developer SEE Virtual Worlds.
Instead of quests that involve killing things or exploring unknown areas filled with enemies, Planet Michael will task players with handling situations through singing or dancing.
"The player is more apt to succeed in a situation using song, dance and adventure as opposed to violence," Gordon says.
Planet Michael will be a free to play online game, and will allow players to create their own avatars, probably with elements used by the famous singer, but also be able to spend real life money on micro-transactions involving items and other objects.
As you can imagine, Gordon and his team are ready to face the jokes that people will throw at them because of the idea of a Michael Jackson online game.
"There is no doubt we will be open to people joking about it and criticizing it," says Gordon. "We'll just have to roll with that as it comes, so to speak. ... He's such a big name and he's such a big legend that no matter what we do, we are going to get a lot of people who are excited, and we are going to get people who criticize us. And we have just taken that as the way it is going to be."
What do you think? Is the Planet Michael MMO worthy of the star's name or will other titles like Ubisoft's Michael Jackson: The Experience be more fitting for the great singer's legacy?