MTV devotes $500 million to games

Music network and Rock Band publisher cranking up gaming budget over next two years.

MTV Networks and parent company Viacom have been serious about games for some time now. Last year Viacom purchased Xfire for $102 million and MTV acquired Guitar Hero developer Harmonix for $175 million.

It seems the company was just warming up, as Reuters is reporting today that MTV plans to invest "well over $500 million" in its game business over the next two years. According to the news service, the money is part of an effort to make games a core part of the company's programming plans, rather than an afterthought tacked on to the existing array of shows.

"I'd like to see more game applications on some of our current big brands across the music group," MTV chairman and chief executive officer Judy McGrath told Reuters.

The music network has made mobile gaming deals recently, and Viacom's Neopets brand has its own gaming presence, but the biggest generator of buzz for MTV's gaming initiative so far has been Harmonix's forthcoming Rock Band. According to Reuters, the network is looking for ways to tie the game in to its existing TV and online outlets, but is concerned about brazen marketing tie-ins turning off players.

"It's hard to tell where it's going to go," said MTV Networks president of global digital media Mika Salmi. "It's in the consumers' hands to take it to the next level."

For more on Rock Band, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

158 Comments

  • packernation31

    Posted Aug 20, 2007 12:03 pm PT

    I'd like to see some shows on MTV devoted to video games, that'd be awesome

  • egelstonman83

    Posted Aug 19, 2007 2:19 pm PT

    I don't know why everyone is getting so buttsore about MTV putting half a bil into their gaming department. Hopefully they can use that money in addition to their pull in the music industry to get some killer licenses for Rock Band. Hopefully, the full album releases they put on Rock Band won't suck and won't cost too much to download from Live or PS3 Online. Regardless, it still is giving the gamers opportunities to play music that they have dreamt about since the release of the original GH. So to all you naysayers, suck it, and wait to see what happens....You may be singing their praises 6-12 months down the road.

  • killed-bill

    Posted Aug 19, 2007 2:10 pm PT

    MTV ... lol - what's that?

  • jacob-goodlich

    Posted Aug 18, 2007 11:47 pm PT

    thats good.....yes ......give us all your money

  • SOULCALIBUR33

    Posted Aug 18, 2007 4:23 pm PT

    MTV They need to stay away from Videogames. They destroy music. They use just commercial music. The GOOD music is not ON MTV. Game's soundtracks show how people needs to return to good music. Not commercial. MTV needs to stay away from OURS games. This is not a business. Games are ART. And a serious thing.

  • snickerskicker

    Posted Aug 18, 2007 12:52 pm PT

    Screw MTV. I pretty much have to watch VH1 Classic to get my music video fix. GH 3 will probably be more popular anyway cause people are more familiar with the Guitar Hero brand name, it has better songs (80's metallica, Slayer, Guns N Roses, Sabotage, the Numer of the Beast, Paint it Black, Tenacious D,....whereas Rock Band has pop Metallica, the most uninteresting Nirvana song, and ugh Bon Jovi), and cause it's $100 cheaper than Rock Band. Actually, it's $140 cheaper if you already bought GH 2 don't give a damn about the wireless guitar and you just want the game by itself.

  • BonzaiiC

    Posted Aug 18, 2007 12:12 pm PT

    When will MTV die now? They suck and everyone knows it. They're reality shows are cheap, mostly fake, and no one watches them.

  • mr17x

    Posted Aug 18, 2007 10:09 am PT

    $500 Million is either a lot or a little. Either a lot of crappy games or few good games.

  • Shootingpeanuts

    Posted Aug 18, 2007 9:32 am PT

    When is MTV going to change its name to CrapTV. All it is is lame reality shows about rich spoiled ass teens having problems.

  • bodylotion

    Posted Aug 18, 2007 3:18 am PT

    MTV is for kids lol

  • Delongman

    Posted Aug 18, 2007 1:59 am PT

    Hope to see some interesting games from them!!! So when's the next rap game, huh?

  • GrimBee

    Posted Aug 18, 2007 1:15 am PT

    yay! now we can all play as Avril Lavigne!

    ...

  • GTA5Addict

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 11:08 pm PT

    I won't be buying Rock Band because EA is a developer for this game.

  • Salith

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 10:51 pm PT

    Ok all these people need to shut up about the price, Guitar Hero has guitar, Rock Band has Vocals & Drums which add more playability to it, so what you really have to look at is which game is actually better for the price? Guitar/Bass $100 ~v~ Guitar/Bass/Drums/Vocals $200... and just to be clear I have GH3 pre-ordered so I'm not tryin to rip on it.

  • Salith

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 10:46 pm PT

    Harmonix picks the songs MTV approves and tries to get the licenses, MTV has some ok (if your bored out of your mind) shows, but they are "in" when it comes to the music industry so if they can get good licenses for Rock Band then that is awesome.

  • ocdog45

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 10:39 pm PT

    MTV sucks

  • BeanTownBrown86

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 10:03 pm PT

    mtv...i laugh at anybody who still watches this channel

  • RedShadowDragon

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 10:00 pm PT

    MTV is typically about getting girls to show skin, getting preps laid (or to argue), putting cameras in rich & famous peoples lives & homes, and telling morons what is desirable & expected of them. (Guarantee you will see one of those if you put on MTV right now) So what the hell do they have to do with games? or should i be asking .. How do they plan on ruining them?

  • axeljaymz

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 7:05 pm PT

    I'm not sure if everyone is aware of this, but take a look at your boxes of Guitar Hero 1. Is that an MTV logo I see? I agree that MTV sucks pretty bad these days, but they still (though VERY rarely) play some good music. Basically the Scandinavian metal they play maybe once a week, but it's something. Anyways, Rock Band is going to kick major rear end, regardless. No question about it. And a real guitar, while the same price, is much harder to play, and a real drum set would cost a LOT more then that.

  • AL13NK1LL3R

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 6:26 pm PT

    i belive that rock band wont be popular like guitar hero cause one, is cost wayy too much, two, it cost 200 dollars so u could buy a REAL guitar with that money and form a REAL band...

    this game is soo lame...

  • fudger2

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 4:45 pm PT

    awesome

  • biglewiss

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 4:42 pm PT

    yea boi

  • aplay-may-cry

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 4:02 pm PT

    That's a lot of money for songs for rock band & rock band 2

  • BloodMist

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 3:52 pm PT

    MTV is, to be frank, absolute SH*T nowadays.Anything they have to do with, i don't give a good god damn about.End of story.

  • IKKF

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 3:30 pm PT

    Dude, MTV is one-dimensional. What are the odds of them doing an adventure game that doesn't involve music or skating? I don't really want an epic from MTV anyway... But Rock Band is gonna' be awesome.

  • BoBo_0007

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 2:49 pm PT

    I can't wait to play my super sweet 16 the game

  • 00697man

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 2:42 pm PT

    mtv finally does something good...

  • StonyShred420

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 1:41 pm PT

    ctg867,
    WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! All those games (Skate, New Tony Hawk, Rock Band, and GH3) haven't even come out and your proclaiming EA's games to be better than the Activision games of the same genre? How about wait till the games come out till you say which is better.

  • StonyShred420

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 1:37 pm PT

    Wow....MTV getting more into videa games...scary and why? Does anyone remember back in the day when MTV actually played Music???? What was worst is you then had to go to MTV2 or VH1 to watch actual music videos, but even now...they took that away from people. MTV is crap, from a busniess stand point, they are highly successful, but what they put out these days is GARBAGE and not even what the channel used to be about (playing music). I mean you would think when MTV stands for Music TeleVision....they would play some music....but no. Hopefully MTV doesn't ruin the thing Harmonix is putting out...but we all know what going to happen...Rock Band to will Star P-Diddy and and not even about playing rock music...let alone...play music....they will turn whatever it is, into a lame, low budget tv show that they make millions off of dumb college/high school girls who glue themselves to the TV and only watch MTV and VH1. MTV SUCKS!

  • Corpse_Vanishes

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 1:22 pm PT

    "The music network..." lol, only by name. MTVs ruined music and TV so lets just hope they don't ruin video games to

  • GameBeaten

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 1:13 pm PT

    You know, I really hate MTV's shows. Except for a few I can stand to watch, but I never turn the channel to MTV. I only see their programming if my brother changes the channel around at midnight or later.

  • Aumala

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 1:00 pm PT

    this sucks, screw those mainstream bastards!!

  • jorgepimp321

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 12:07 pm PT

    why would MTV host a game tournament,I hate to say it but many communities with think MTV is getting nerdy, so they won invest in just somthing that will only be watched for a few days

  • enoslives7

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 11:57 am PT

    Mtv sucks !!! They have'nt been worth a crap since the early 90s. They are a bucnh of greedy corporate b@stards !

  • imperial_agent

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 11:53 am PT

    well... since MTV has so much clout in the music industry, they might be able to get the big names into Guitar Hero/Rock Band (Metallica, etc...) instead of the lesser-known bands that Harmonix got because they weren't big enough/rich enough to afford.

    Soo.... there might be some good in this.

  • darkxinos

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 10:43 am PT

    If MTV where smart they'd host a gaming tournament channel.

  • ctg867

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 10:43 am PT

    Well since Rock Band will beat out Guitar Hero III, and Skate will beat out Tony Hawk, EA now has much more munnies. MTV needs to sign on for the soundtracks to Skate, would be another reason to get Skate instead of Tony Hawk. Usually we're all bashing MTV and EA, but they're coming out with two really, really great games. I can't knock them for that.

  • RjmcW

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 10:34 am PT

    so that means we will see videogames like "next: the videogame"

  • -AK47-

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 9:49 am PT

    Hopefully there not gonna use it to make mtv shows video games.

  • pooladden

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 9:26 am PT

    w/e

  • thousandfaces

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 9:21 am PT

    "I'd like to see more game applications on some of our current big brands across the music group,"
    for the love of God no!!!!
    &
    "MTV is not that good, only good stuff on mtv is jackass, viva la bam, wildboyz, south park and dirty sanchez"
    LMAO!!

  • Hvac0120

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 9:07 am PT

    Bring back Music Generator with the interface of part 2 (part 3 sucked!). A next gen offering would be awesome, especially with the audio power of the PS3!!!

  • king_bobo

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 9:03 am PT

    Maybe these games will be good, and if so, great! If they're not, who cares? There's loads of other game companies to fix the gaming market.

  • Lewis-Morgan

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 8:59 am PT

    most of that 500 million is probably going into the Rock Band franchise and not crappy MTV licened games, so theres nothing to worry about (hopefully )

  • puablo

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 8:15 am PT

    Don't worry. If MTV makes crappy games, just don't buy them, and that's all there is to it. The positive side to this story is Rock Band + more money = good.

  • FoodThing00

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 8:10 am PT

    Great. Not only is gaming going to hell, it will do so under the MTV brand.

  • DonutTrooper

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 8:04 am PT

    The only game I can picture MTV in is where you play a disgruntled employee with a rifle on the noble mission of blowing the brains out of their board of directors.

  • rikhan_z

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 7:56 am PT

    I want to play the sims version of Hogan and Ozzies. , also a all star cast of singers and band wrestling each other down and not by the name of "Celeb deathmatch". J/k do you seriously think they can convent their brands into the next big thing in games?

  • Le-Beave

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 7:46 am PT

    Just don't overlook they are investing in potentially the best game for the next few years!

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