A method for providing a virtual world and managing integration of real world events with the virtual world, wherein the virtual world includes a social network game in which real-world individuals associated with a set of characters compete based on tracked activities, the method being implemented on a computer system having one or more physical processors executing computer program instructions which, when executed, perform the method, the method comprising:
- generating, by the computer system, a character profile for a first character associated with a first real-world individual, wherein the character profile includes at least an image of the first real-world individual and an indication of an association between the first character and an avatar of the first character;
- storing, by the computer system, in a character database, character profiles for a set of characters associated with real-world individuals, wherein the character profiles include at least the character profile for the first character, and wherein the set of characters includes at least the first character;
- receiving, by the computer system, data indicating outcomes of live events involving one or more of the set of characters and fans of the set of characters;
- updating, by the computer system, the character profiles based on the received data indicating the outcomes of the live events;
- providing, by the computer system, a virtual world to facilitate interactions between avatars of the set of characters and fans of the set of characters represented by the avatars;
- tracking, by the computer system, one or more interactions between the avatars of the set of characters and the fans of the set of characters represented by the avatars, wherein the interactions include providing digital signatures representing authentic autographs of individual characters;
- identifying, by the computer system, one or more characters of the set of characters to be provided with an opportunity to participate in a first real-world event based on the received data indicating the outcomes of the live events and the tracked interactions within the virtual world, wherein the one or more characters include at least the first character;
- providing, by the computer system, an opportunity to at least the first real-world individual to participate in the first real-world event based on the association between the first character and the first real-world individual;
- and
- facilitating provision of the digital signatures representing authentic autographs of the individual characters by:
- receiving, by the computer system, a digital signature request from a fan of the first character,
- providing, by the computer system, the digital signature request to the first real-world individual based on the association between the first character and the first real-world individual,
- responsive to receiving an affirmative response to the digital signature request, obtaining, by the computer system, a digital item with a digital signature of the first real-world individual, wherein responding affirmatively and providing the digital signature is an action of the first character that is tracked as a portion of a basis for the opportunity to participate in the first real-world event provided to the first real-world individual, and
- providing, by the computer system, the digital item with the digital signature to the fan of the first character.