Sanrio Digital (www.sanriodigital.com) today announced that it collected 5 prizes in the Best Digital Entertainment Award at the Hong Kong ICT Awards 2008. Sanrio Digital won in the Best Graphics category for the eagerly anticipated Hello Kitty Online MMORPG (www.hellokittyonline.com), while the second season of The Adventures of Hello Kitty & Friends won prizes for Best 3D Animation, Best TV Series, Best Modeling & Texturing, and Best Lighting & Rendering.

The Hong Kong ICT Awards (www.hkictawards.hk) is a yearly collaborative effort among digital entertainment organizations, ICT professional bodies, academia and the government to select and honor Hong Kong’s finest accomplishments in IT and digital entertainment. The Best Digital Entertainment Award recognizes the best works produced in the Hong Kong digital entertainment industry. The presentation ceremony was held on February 9, 2009 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Hello Kitty Online, developed by Sanrio Digital, is the official Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) of Hello Kitty and other famous Sanrio characters. It integrates social networking services, such as blogs and video sharing, with a sophisticated online multiplayer game with customizable avatars, guilds, player economy, farming, player housing, crafting, and various other MMORPG features.

Hello Kitty Online is currently in beta but will open to the public for a special Valentine’s Day event from February 14 to 17, 2009. The game is free-to-play; interested players may visit http://www.hellokittyonline.com for more information and to download the game client.

The Adventures of Hello Kitty & Friends produced by Sanrio Digital in collaboration with Dream Cortex (www.dreamcortex.com), is the first Sanrio television production made in Hong Kong, and the first Sanrio series made entirely in CGI (Computer Generated Imaging). “The Adventures of Hello Kitty & Friends” offers an entertaining and often humorous way for children to learn about social interaction and behaviour while following the adventures of some of the world’s best-loved and most recognizable Sanrio characters including Hello Kitty, Dear Daniel, My Melody, Keroppi, Badtz Maru and Pochacco.

Well done!