Nickelodeon Kids & Family Virtual Worlds Group

Nickelodeon Games Group
Subsidiary (Owned by Viacom)
Industry Internet
Founded June 2008
Headquarters Glendale, California, U.S.
Key people
 Kyra Reppen, Senior VP, General Manager
Revenue $30 million USD+
Owner Viacom
Number of employees
 150+
Parent National Amusements

Nickelodeon Games Group, formerly Neopets, Inc., develops and manages all virtual world initiatives for kids, tweens, teens and families for the Nickelodeon Kids & Family Group.[1] One of their most popular properties was Neopets (http://www.neopets.com), an online youth-targeted virtual world where members adopt and care for a virtual companion who accompanies them through an endless array of games, communities and fantastical lands.[2] Other initiatives include partnering with the Nick.com on Nickelodeon's online playground for kids, Nicktropolis (http://www.nicktropolis.com) and creating new virtual world destinations. The group focuses on the building the company's current properties with projects like World of Neopia (working title) and of the expansion of Nicktropolis with a premium layer.

Nickelodeon Games Group has expanded Neopets to a registered user base of 45 million, maintaining its stickiness and status as the number-one tween virtual world in time spent, increasing its average per user to more than two hours, according to comScore. The company has added major mass retail launches to the company's business model, in an effort to converge the web experience with a consumer products line, and paid item sales.[3] Along with the continual growths and evolution of Neopets, Petpet Park and Nicktropolis, the Virtual Worlds Group will also continue to add new virtual worlds to their list annually[4] like the recently announced game, Monkey Quest.[5]

Company management

On June 17 of 2008, Kyra Reppen was officially announced as both Senior Vice President (SVP) and General Manager (GM) of the Virtual Worlds Group by Steve Youngwood, Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group's Executive Vice President of Digital Media.[6] As head of the Nickelodeon Kids and Family Virtual Worlds Group, Reppen oversees strategy, creative development and management of new and existing virtual worlds and casual massive multiplayer online games (MMOGs) for the company.

Reppen was previously Vice President and GM at NickJr.com, and the creator behind the ParentsConnect brand. During her time there, she expanded the role of Nickjr.com from a promotional site to the number-one website for parents of young children.[7] Reppen also created and launched Nick Jr. Parents TV, oversaw the educational site development of myNOGGIN; introduces the first 3D online games for preschoolers. Reppen started out her career at Viacom in MTV Networks Law and Business Affairs and worked as a corporate associate in several law firms beforehand.[8]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group Forms New Games and Virtual Worlds Divisions.PR Newswire Press Release. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
  2. ↑ Neopets.com. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
  3. ↑ Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group Forms New Games and Virtual Worlds Divisions.PR Newswire Press Release. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
  4. ↑ MTV Networks' Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group Commits $100 Million to Its Online Casual Games Business.PR Newswire Press Release. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
  5. ↑
  6. ↑ Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group Forms New Games and Virtual Worlds Divisions.PR Newswire Press Release. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
  7. ↑ Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group Forms New Games and Virtual Worlds Divisions.PR Newswire Press Release. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
  8. ↑ Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group Forms New Games and Virtual Worlds Divisions.PR Newswire Press Release. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.

References

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