“Upper Deck has once again changed the face of sports trading cards, and with UpperDeckU is taking baseball card collecting to the next level. By linking real-world card collecting with an engaging online social experience, Upper Deck is speaking directly to what today’s kids are looking for,” said Louise Curcio, Vice President for Upper Deck. “With UpperDeckU, kids can take their physical cards, love of sports and online game play, and create a living and breathing online experience.”
UpperDeckU offers boys and girls a place to share their passion for cards, sports and online game play in a safe and fun virtual world. In addition to free game play, kids can also use codes found inside Upper Deck sports card wrappers to unlock enhanced game features and exclusive virtual world items. With the purchase of specially marked packs of 2009 Upper Deck sports cards, kids can access officially licensed digital items featuring both team logos and player images. At launch, UpperDeckU will feature digital items with Major League Baseball and National Hockey League team logos, as well as all of the top MLB and NHL players.
UpperDeckU fans will also enjoy a full range of in-game activities and extensive personalization functions. Kids can create and customize their own avatars, and dress the avatars in the uniform of a favorite team or player. Fans can also play sports-, card- and arcade-games; collect and trade digital sports cards; join clubs and teams, and complete with their teams. Through each activity, players earn achievements and can advance their avatar to higher levels. UpperDeckU also offers safe socialization features, like chat and email that encourage fans to interact with their friends in a safe and controlled environment.
“It’s fitting that UpperDeckU is part of our company’s 20th anniversary. Upper Deck has evolved with so many generations of sports card collectors over the years and our goal for UpperDeckU is to welcome the next generation of kids to sports card collecting . . . online,” Curcio said.
Fans can find UpperDeckU codes on the inside of card-pack wrappers in the 2009 Upper Deck Series One Baseball set, which hit store shelves last week. Additional wrapper codes launched this week inside Upper Deck’s 2008-09 Series Two Hockey card set. Throughout 2009, more codes will be available in select Upper Deck sports card products, and exclusive digital items for more sports will be unlocked, including football, basketball and soccer.
UpperDeckU is being developed through a partnership between Upper Deck and Flying Lab Software, creators of the successful MMO “Pirates of the Burning Sea.”