MTV Networks Enters Social Gaming Scene

MTV Networks, a division of Viacom, has acquired social gaming company Social Express, marking its first foray into the genre. MTV Networks plans to develop social games based on TV shows and characters from MTV, Nickelodeon and other brands, as well as o

April 6, 2018

MTV Networks will incorporate Social Express into Nickelodeon Digital. Tony Espinoza, Social Express' co-founder and chief executive officer, will lead gaming strategy and development as vice president and general manager of social gaming for MTV Networks' Nickelodeon Kids & Family Group. In addition, Neil Souza, co-founder of Social Express and FoulPlay Media, was appointed to vice president of technology for social games. Espinoza and Souza will report to Dave Williams, senior vice president and general manager of games, Nickelodeon Kids & Family Group.

"Social gaming is one of the biggest drivers of the explosive growth in social media—it's fun, it's engaging and it's shareable," says Judy McGrath, chairman and chief executive

officer of MTV Networks. "Social Express brings us strong experience and know-how in this burgeoning space, which we'll supercharge with the IP and scale of Nickelodeon and other MTV Networks brands to create great new social gaming experiences for our fans and cool tools for independent developers as well."

The first game will be released during third quarter of this year. In addition, MTV Networks will utilize Social Express' proficiency to launch a publishing platform for independent game developers.

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