Championship Manager Comes To Facebook Via Jolt Online

Square Enix's long-running soccer management simulation Championship Manager is now on Facebook with the just-released Championship Manager: Rivals, by way of GameStop-owned browser game publisher Jolt Online Gaming. The game operates under a free-to-play model and, as expected, acts as a multiplayer social experience within the Facebook framework. "We're thrilled to be bringing Championship Manager to Facebook, and in partnering with Square Enix on Rivals we're giving passionate soccer fans the social soccer game they've been looking for," said Jolt CEO Richard Barnwell. The game launched Friday, and has planned updates throughout the summer months, according to Jolt. This is not the first free-to-play version of the series: MMO publisher Shanda Games recently licensed the franchise for a version specific to the Chinese market, which is dominated by the free-to-play model. Major retailer GameStop purchased a majority interest in Jolt Online Gaming in 2009. The company has also released Utopia Kingdoms and Gangsta' Zombies.