Jackson estate licenses virtual 'Planet Michael'

LOS ANGELES -- The man who made the moonwalk famous is getting a planet of his own.

The Michael Jackson estate has entered a licensing deal with a Los Angeles company to create an online virtual world based called "Planet Michael."

The planet will live inside the Entropia Universe, a so-called "massively multiplayer online" game with about 100,000 active users. It is run by the Swedish company Mind Ark.

The estate will work with game publisher SEE Virtual Worlds to develop the game for release in 2011. In it, fans will be able to collect and trade virtual Jackson merchandise, and earn credits by performing challenges related to his music and dance moves.

As in other virtual worlds, players who want to buy more credits can replenish their game accounts using real money.