Nickelodeon slimes casual market with $100M

As Nintendo expands the casual market with its deluge of Wii party titles, more and more publishers are catering to gamers outside the hardcore set. In recent months, major players such as Microsoft, Electronic Arts, and Ubisoft have all announced a reallocation of resources to the burgeoning casual market..

Today, the Nickelodeon television network announced it would be diving headfirst into the casual-market pool by sinking $100 million into its online casual games business over the next two years. Owned by MTV parent Viacom, the network has long licensed its game rights to THQ, which has released titles based on its kid-friendly cartoon series such as Avatar: The Last Airbender and the ubiquitous SpongeBob SquarePants.

Nickelodeon plans to undertake several initiatives with the investment. Taking advantage of existing franchises from its Nick Jr. and Noggin brands, Nickelodeon will launch a subscription-based service aimed at preschool kids and their parents. Titled myNoggin, the service will feature edutainment games where parents can track their tots' progress when it arrives this fall.

The network also plans to roll out The-NGames in early 2008. The site will cater its offerings toward teenage girls with a number of games designed around social orientation. It also plans to add multiplayer functionality to its New Game of the Week service found on Nick.com, as well as cooperative multiplayer games to its kid-friendly social-networking site Nicktropolis. Also on the docket is the Nick Gaming Club, which will feature multiplayer games, 3D avatars, and community features based on Nickelodeon properties. The subscription-based service will launch in Q1 2008.

Nickelodeon also has plans to expand on its offerings at AddictingGames.com. The network will feature an emphasis on user-submitted games and include game-making tools.