Sci Fi Channel is game to join the virtual world has word on the Sci-Fi Channel's plans to partner with Trion World Network (the same developer as in the story above) to create an MMOG that ties directly in with a television series (thanks Mike Martinez and Kotaku), a plan they had originally hoped to implement with the Battlestar Galactica series. No title is revealed for the project, which is targeted at a summer 2010 release, though it has been revealed gameplay would be set around 80-100 years in the future, unsurprising since this will presumably carry a science-fiction theme. Here's a bit:

Lars Buttler, co-founder and chief executive of Trion, said that the game will live entirely online and that vistas will open as the television series takes the characters throughout their world. The game will continue to grow, and "footage" of players in battles or other mass gatherings will be incorporated into the series. The TV show will match the game in its look, with a green-screen hyper reality, much like the film "300," Howe said.

Buttler's company is partnered with Hewlett Packard and has raised $30 million from investors such as Time Warner and General Electric. He said the focus of the company is to pounce on the concept that discs and downloads are being left behind and that online games are the "clear future."

The virtual world that pulls in fans of the show will also give Buttler and his team hard data about which characters, settings and story lines stir the most interests. He said that will help the show's producers bend their story lines to audience tastes -- a notion that might not sit well with some purists who think a drama should be guided by decisions of art rather than market research. Clearly, though, the very nature of television programming is in flux, and Howe said fans have an appetite for a new level of participation and tailored entertainments.

"This will be a state-of-the art game and it will be a strong television show, and watching how those two things interact will be fascinating," he said.