Entropia's Jon "Neverdie" Jacobs will announce a $5 million virtual world treasure hunt from MindArk's booth at this year's CES in Las Vegas, the company announced. The treasure hunt, titled "Space Pirates," will be accessible to all Entropia members, and open to new players interested in joining.
The Space Pirates treasure hunt will also mark an expansion for Entropia, adding exploration and colonization of new planets beyond the home world of Calypso, which Worlds in Motion once visited. As part of the expansion, Entropia will introduce new tools, equipment, treasures and artifacts designed to assist avatars participating in the quest.
MindArk says that this year's CES will also be the launch site for its second annual MMO World Championship finals, taking place at its booth on Thursday, January 9th. Jenna Star Mercury of the U.S. and South Africa's Linden Avery will compete to win a prize package of Entropia land the company values at $25,000 USD, which features hunting and mining taxation rights that MindArk says will provide a monthly real world cash income.
The $5 million prize will apparently be put up by MMOWC LLC, a Florida-based corporation which exists solely to manage, market and handle corporate sponsorship for the Massive Multiplayer Online World Championships.
Oddly, when the company announced the cash-laden tournament earlier this year in Entropia at Neverdie's club (often cited to be valued at $100,000), the prize package was revealed as a two-parter: first, an optional all-expenses paid trip to Florida, where the winner will be filmed for -- get this -- a reality TV show hosted by Club NEVERDIE owner Jon Jacobs (a reality show about a virtual entrepreneur? How's that for crossover?). Second, $20,000 (not $25,000) worth of Entropia land. No word on whether Ms. Star Mercury or Mr. Avery will be the next reality TV star after all.
Jacobs commented, "CES has it all - gadgets, games and glamour. It's like the electronics version of the Cannes Film Festival. I'm extremely excited to be riding the crest of the virtual worlds wave at CES this year."
