MTV, Jerry Bruckheimer in Video Game Partnership

NEW YORK, December 19: MTV Games, a division of Viacom’s MTV
Networks, has reached an exclusive deal with producer Jerry
Bruckheimer to launch a game incubation studio that will develop and create
new original video games.

The agreement marks Bruckheimer’s first foray into the
gaming world. As part of the deal, Bruckheimer will build a game incubation
studio with MTV Games, where a team of experienced video game experts, artists
and storytellers will seek out and deliver new game concepts and intellectual
property. Executives from both MTV Games and Bruckheimer’s gaming studio will
work together on all phases of development—from concept to
platform—as well as on the production, distribution deals and marketing
elements, with the potential that some of the game concepts could migrate to
other entertainment media like film and TV. Jeff Yapp, the executive VP of
programming enterprises, and Bob Picunko, the VP of electronic games and
interactive products, will oversee the relationship for MTV Games.

MTV Networks will support this venture across all its
broadcast and digital platforms, including CMT, MTV, Spike and VH1. This deal
follows the company’s announcement in August 2007 that it would invest more
than $500 million over the next two years in the development and distribution
of its interactive entertainment and video game business.

On television, Bruckheimer had 10 series airing in the
2005-2006 season—a record in the medium for an individual producer. These
have included the hit franchise CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and its spinoffs CSI: Miami and CSI: NY, and other CBS series like Without A Trace, Cold Case and the reality competition The Amazing
Race. In the motion picture arena,
Bruckheimer’s films have included American Gigolo, Flashdance, Bad Boys, Dangerous
Minds, Armageddon, Enemy of the State, Gone in 60 Seconds, Remember the Titans, Pearl Harbor, Black Hawk Down, National
Treasure and its sequel National
Treasure: Book of Secrets; and the Pirates
of the Caribbean trilogy. Jerry Bruckheimer
Films and Television has been honored with six Oscars, 16 Emmys, five Grammys
and four Golden Globes.

“Video games represent a new and innovative medium for what
we’ve always tried to do, which is to tell great stories,” said Bruckheimer.
“But this medium is unique in that it gives the player control over how those
stories unfold. I look forward to working with MTV Games to create new original
game stories, always looking for ways to innovate the medium.”

“Jerry Bruckheimer and his innate talent for developing
wildly successful entertainment properties that range from action, reality,
drama, sports, and comedy are the perfect complement to our vision for MTV
Games and the experience our audiences truly crave,” said Van Toffler, the
president of MTV Networks Music & Logo Group. "There’s a huge
intersection between the fans of Bruckheimer films, our audience and gamers, making
the potential for this partnership to be as explosive as one of his blockbuster
films."

—By Irene Lew