MTV to pump $500m in gaming

[Anmolsc]

Viacom’s MTV Networks (MTVN) has decided to pump in cash into their gaming initiative. They stated that their firm will invest more than $500 million over the next two years in the development and distribution of its gaming business across its global portfolio.

 

 

 

Here are the details of MTV’s properties in June and July:

 

Casual Gaming:

As part of MTVN’s overall $500 million investment, last month the MTVN, Nickelodeon Kids & Family Group is committing $100 million over the next two years in the development, distribution and creation of casual gaming titles, sites and platforms, further establishing MTVN as a leader in the casual gaming space.

The company’s Kids & Family Group also has announced an agreement with Nokia to deliver Shockwave’s portfolio of Flash Lite mini-games to Nokia customers in multiple markets around the globe.

 

AddictingGames attracted a record 9.2 million unique visitors domestically for the month, and 14.7 million in total globally, according to comScore.

 

Games Media:

GameTrailers brought in a record 1.4 million unique visitors domestically, and 4.7 million in total globally, according to comScore. The site was propelled by its comprehensive video coverage of E3, with more than 1,000 videos posted during E3 week alone, an exclusive partnership with E3 Insider, as well as an enhanced design and all-new features.

Xfire increased its number of registered users to more than 7.7 million in July, and the site is up +139% in unique users per month over the second quarter of 2006, according to comScore.

 

Console-Based and Handheld Games:

At E3, MTV Games and Harmonix, in partnership with Electronic Arts, premiered the highly anticipated “Rock Band”, winning three Game Critics Awards, including “Best of Show,” and garnering critical acclaim from the video game industry’s top journalists.

Set to hit stores for Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system this holiday, “Rock Band” will feature 40 songs, including Metallica’s incomparable metal song “Enter Sandman.” “Rock Band” users will also be able to access hundreds of tracks via digital distribution, including The Who’s classic “Who’s Next” in its entirety.

 

Judy McGrath is the chairman and chief executive officer of MTV Networks. She quoted, “Gaming is a crucial point of our vertical entertainment strategy to superserve our devoted and passionate audiences with engaging experiences, and the success of all our properties, everything from AddictingGames to the virtual games on Nicktropolis to the award-winning Rock Band, really has put us in a leadership position. As we carry on to take our brands narrow and deep to serve our targeted audiences, we are investing over $500 million in the next few years towards building our games business, worldwide, across all of the brands.”

 

Mika Salmi, President, MTVN Global Digital Media said, “Whether hardcore or casual, online or console-based, we know that games are a central activity across all our audiences, so we’re upping our efforts to connect with more gamers in a more appealing way than ever before and give added value to our marketing partners.”

 

Half a million dollars! That’s a very huge amount and it is amazing that big corporate firms are ready to fuel the gaming business by injecting money. The MTV investment, no doubt, will encourage many more firms to invest in gaming and this will foster more quality content for video games.

 

http://www.gameguru.in/pc/2007/17/mtv-to-p...500m-in-gaming/