When we talked to Empire of Sports' Christian Müller recently about Empire of Sports, he told us the company of the same name was seeking Asian distribution for the casual, sports-themed multiplayer online world. Now, it looks like they've found it, as Chinese developer-operator Giant Interactive Group has announced it's snagged an exclusive license to operate the game in the Greater China region until 2011.

Empire of Sports Ltd. was jointly founded by sports marketing company Infront Sports & Media and F4, a European computer game development company. The titular MMO is their first venture, and they've said that multiplayer basketball, tennis, skiing, and a series of fitness and training games will be available when the title launches. They've also consulted professional sporting referees throughout the development process to incorporate real-world game rules.

Wei Liu, president of Giant, commented, ''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.''