NEW YORK and SEATTLE, July 18 /PRNewswire/ -- MTV Networks' Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group today announced its commitment to invest $100 million over the next two years in development, distribution and creation of casual gaming titles, sites and platforms. The announcement was made by Cyma Zarghami, President, Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group and was highlighted at the Casual Connect gaming conference in Seattle, WA, in a keynote address delivered by Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group's Executive Vice President of Digital Media, Steve Youngwood.

    This announcement from the Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group is part of MTV Networks' overall commitment to leading in the gaming space, including casual games, games media, console-based and handheld games.

    "Across all of MTVN's online sites, gaming is an important original genre and we are committed to delivering fresh content to our audiences in all of our demos," said Ms. Zarghami. "Particularly in the kids' space, with more than 86% of kids 8 to 14 gaming online, we see great momentum for online casual gaming. This investment will not only benefit our audiences, but also our marketing and distribution partners."

    According to a recent Comscore World Metrix study on websites offering online or downloadable games, 25% of web users are frequenting gaming sites and the number of unique visitors to online gaming sites has reached close to 217 million, up +17% versus last year. The average online gamer visits a gaming site nine times in one month.

    The Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group investment will roll out over the course of the next two years, primarily in 2008-09, through several initiatives including:

    -- myNOGGIN: A subscription service where preschoolers can play educational games and parents can track their progress will launch this fall with Charter Communications, Cox Communications and Insight Communications. It will also become available directly to consumers online in the fall through a subscription model. myNOGGIN will be advertising free, and will build upon existing hit Nickelodeon Kids and Family brands for preschoolers and their parents, Nick Jr. and NOGGIN.

    -- Nick.com/Nicktropolis Multiplayer Games/Tournaments: www.nick.com will expand upon its existing gaming franchise, New Game of the Week, giving it a multiplayer focus. The first new effort in this space is 3D Slimeball on Nick.com. In addition, multiplayer, cooperative gaming will become part of Nicktropolis (www.nicktropolis.com), complementing the safe chat, virtual economy, and item trading capabilities on the site.

    -- Nick Gaming Club: Nickelodeon's first ever subscription offering, Nick Gaming Club will be a safe gaming environment featuring multiplayer games, 3D avatars and community features. It will include games based on Nickelodeon properties as well as others. The Nick Gaming Club will launch in first quarter 2008.

    -- The-NGames.com: Launching in early 2008, The-NGames.com will become the first major casual gaming site to focus solely on teen girls. The-N.com, which previously focused on social games for teen girls with games like Slasher, Avatar Mall and others, will partner with AddictingGames to produce this new site.

    -- AddictingGames and AddictingWorlds: AddictingGames' offerings will be expanded to include casual MMOGs with the introduction of AddictingWorlds, a way to introduce a variety of virtual worlds to the AddictingGames' audience. www.addictinggames.com already features a few virtual worlds on its site, having recently entered into a partnership with Habbo and with an existing partnership with sister site Neopets. In addition, increased emphasis will be placed on user-submitted games on the site including more prominent upload capabilities and game-making engines.

    -- Shockwave: Shockwave will become the games destination for families. Increased focus this fall on www.shockwave.com will be on the creation of innovative applications which are both fun for the user and an opportunity for prominent integrated advertising. The first new application to launch is Jigsaw Video. In addition, Shockwave will be more closely linked with family-targeted brands within Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group, like Nick-at- Nite television, to give advertisers the ability to promote their messaging across multiple platforms. Shockwave will also increase its publishing of downloadable games with Carrie the Caregiver Episode 2: Preschool, scheduled to come out later this year.

    -- NeoStudios: Neopets (www.neopets.com) will be transformed into Neostudios, which will focus on developing new virtual world gaming experiences online, while continuing to grow and evolve the existing ones. The first of these will launch at the end of 2008 with a goal to launch a new one every other year.

    Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group has an expansive footprint in gaming through a diverse portfolio of online casual gaming, console-based and handheld games. The company's portfolio of online casual gaming properties, which generate almost 1 billion game plays per month from audiences ranging from kids to adults, include Neopets, Nick.com, Nickjr.com, Shockwave, Nick Arcade, AddictingGames and many more.

    MTV Networks continues to build a multi-dimensional games media network with acquired properties Xfire and GameTrailers.com, and content on branded sites including MTV.com and SpikeTV.com. The company also has a strong foothold in console-based and handheld gaming with MTV Games and Harmonix, which provides music fans with a deeper interactive experience through its popular music and rhythm titles.

    About Nickelodeon

    Nickelodeon, in its 28th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in almost 94 million households and has been the number-one- rated basic cable network for 13 consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA - News, VIA.B - News).

    About MTV Networks and Viacom

    MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA - News, VIA.B - News), is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. MTV Networks, with 137 channels worldwide, owns and operates the following television programming services - MTV: MUSIC TELEVISION, MTV2, VH1, mtvU, NICKELODEON, NICK at NITE, COMEDY CENTRAL, TV LAND, SPIKE TV, CMT, NOGGIN/THE N, VH1 CLASSIC, LOGO, MTVN INTERNATIONAL and THE DIGITAL SUITE FROM MTV NETWORKS, a package of 13 digital services, all of these networks trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks connects with its audiences through its robust consumer products businesses and its more than 200 interactive properties worldwide, including online, broadband, wireless and interactive television services and also has licensing agreements, joint ventures, and syndication deals whereby all of its programming services can be seen worldwide.

    Viacom is a leading global entertainment content company, with prominent and respected brands. Engaging its audiences through television, motion pictures and digital platforms, Viacom seeks to reach its audiences however they consume content. Viacom's leading brands include the multiplatform properties of MTV Networks, including MTV: Music Television, VH1, CMT: Country Music Television, Logo, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, COMEDY CENTRAL, Spike TV, TV Land, and more than 130 networks around the world, as well as digital assets such as MTV.com, comedycentral.com, VSPOT, TurboNick, Neopets, Xfire and iFilm; BET Networks; Paramount Pictures; DreamWorks; and Famous Music. More information about Viacom and its businesses is available at www.viacom.com.

    Source: MTV Networks' Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group