New Nickelodeon Worlds in Development: Monkey World and SpongeBob SquarePants
Nickelodeon announced they are ramping up their online presence with the development and production of additional virtual worlds, building on the success of its existing Neopets and Nicktropolis sites.
An entire virtual world based on hit SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS will have games, avatars and a strong social network component is expected next year, as well as an original site called Monkey World, a social networking and massive multiplayer game.
There will also be increase in interactivity on its Neopets site via a new virtual world called World of Neopia. A paid tier to Nicktropolis is also expected. Nicktropolis is the overall virtual world divided into sections for each Nickelodeon show and property.
The new worlds will be developed out of Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group's Virtual World Studios (formerly titled NeoStudios, announced in July 2007), which will develop virtual destinations for kids, tweens, teens and families each year, while continuing to innovate upon the company's existing virtual worlds.
The SpongeBob, Monkey World and Neopia will also have paid tiers, although there is no word on how much they would charge.
The news is timed to the Virtual Worlds Conference this week in New York and will help Nickelodeon compete with the increasing Disney family of sites. Disney recently acquired Club Penguin (which also charges for subscriptions) and launched Toontown Online to target online-savvy children.
Steve Youngwood, executive VP of digital Media at Nickelodeon, told THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER it will be difficult to launch a new brand like Monkey World:"Now a virtual world is putting its foot out there as another viable medium, not just to extend brands but to create brands," he said.
However, if the online worlds succeed, it would position Nickelodeon as a key player in digital media, generating revenue from subscriptions and advertising.
"For our audiences, virtual worlds are the convergence of gaming, entertainment and community online, and by announcing these new worlds, we are ensuring that our content pipeline is going to remain fresh and vibrant," Youngwood said. "We are very fortunate to have a digital production studio that, like our linear animation studio in Burbank, will be dedicated to creating great new content experiences for our audiences both with our existing brands and properties and new, original ones."
Neopets alone has 45 million registered users. Nick parent company Viacom acquired the site several years ago and considers it a success.
Additionally, Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group will continue to evolve and add innovative experiences to its current virtual worlds. Over the next few months, the Nicktropolis will add new environments such as a comic book store, pirate ship themed area and another centered on the new Nickelodeon series THE MIGHTY B, from co-creators Amy Poehler (SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE), Cynthia True (THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS) and Emmy and Annie-nominated storyboard artist and writer, Erik Wiese. A regionalized version of Nicktropolis will also launch in the U.K. in April.
In other Internet news, Paramount Digital Entertainment announced today they will extend their popular VooZoo application to MTV Networks' vMTV virtual world and Makena's There.com.
Paramount, MTV and Nickelodeon are all owned by Viacom.
This marks the first movie studio to partner with There.com and underscores Paramount Pictures' commitment to making famous scenes from its most popular movies available to users in social environments and on wireless devices.
With VooZoo, vMTV and There.com members can send each other video emoticons called "Voohoos," which are made up of video clips from Paramount Pictures' library that last from a few seconds and capture the most famous one-liners from a gamut of movies including classics like FOOTLOOSE, FLASHDANCE and BEVERLY HILLS COP to mainstream favorites including MEAN GIRLS, CLUELESS and ZOOLANDER.
Members of both worlds will be able to purchase the clips for about $1 each and use them when chatting with other members just as they would use other emoticons such as "smile", "lol" (laugh out loud), or "twist" (a dance move).
An entire virtual world based on hit SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS will have games, avatars and a strong social network component is expected next year, as well as an original site called Monkey World, a social networking and massive multiplayer game.
There will also be increase in interactivity on its Neopets site via a new virtual world called World of Neopia. A paid tier to Nicktropolis is also expected. Nicktropolis is the overall virtual world divided into sections for each Nickelodeon show and property.
The new worlds will be developed out of Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group's Virtual World Studios (formerly titled NeoStudios, announced in July 2007), which will develop virtual destinations for kids, tweens, teens and families each year, while continuing to innovate upon the company's existing virtual worlds.
The SpongeBob, Monkey World and Neopia will also have paid tiers, although there is no word on how much they would charge.
The news is timed to the Virtual Worlds Conference this week in New York and will help Nickelodeon compete with the increasing Disney family of sites. Disney recently acquired Club Penguin (which also charges for subscriptions) and launched Toontown Online to target online-savvy children.
Steve Youngwood, executive VP of digital Media at Nickelodeon, told THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER it will be difficult to launch a new brand like Monkey World:"Now a virtual world is putting its foot out there as another viable medium, not just to extend brands but to create brands," he said.
However, if the online worlds succeed, it would position Nickelodeon as a key player in digital media, generating revenue from subscriptions and advertising.
"For our audiences, virtual worlds are the convergence of gaming, entertainment and community online, and by announcing these new worlds, we are ensuring that our content pipeline is going to remain fresh and vibrant," Youngwood said. "We are very fortunate to have a digital production studio that, like our linear animation studio in Burbank, will be dedicated to creating great new content experiences for our audiences both with our existing brands and properties and new, original ones."
Neopets alone has 45 million registered users. Nick parent company Viacom acquired the site several years ago and considers it a success.
Additionally, Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group will continue to evolve and add innovative experiences to its current virtual worlds. Over the next few months, the Nicktropolis will add new environments such as a comic book store, pirate ship themed area and another centered on the new Nickelodeon series THE MIGHTY B, from co-creators Amy Poehler (SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE), Cynthia True (THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS) and Emmy and Annie-nominated storyboard artist and writer, Erik Wiese. A regionalized version of Nicktropolis will also launch in the U.K. in April.
In other Internet news, Paramount Digital Entertainment announced today they will extend their popular VooZoo application to MTV Networks' vMTV virtual world and Makena's There.com.
Paramount, MTV and Nickelodeon are all owned by Viacom.
This marks the first movie studio to partner with There.com and underscores Paramount Pictures' commitment to making famous scenes from its most popular movies available to users in social environments and on wireless devices.
With VooZoo, vMTV and There.com members can send each other video emoticons called "Voohoos," which are made up of video clips from Paramount Pictures' library that last from a few seconds and capture the most famous one-liners from a gamut of movies including classics like FOOTLOOSE, FLASHDANCE and BEVERLY HILLS COP to mainstream favorites including MEAN GIRLS, CLUELESS and ZOOLANDER.
Members of both worlds will be able to purchase the clips for about $1 each and use them when chatting with other members just as they would use other emoticons such as "smile", "lol" (laugh out loud), or "twist" (a dance move).
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