MTVN Acquires Online Gaming Startup Social Express

MTV Networks has acquired Social
Express, a San Francisco-based social gaming development startup, which the
programmer expects to integrate into its Nickelodeon Digital group and use to
launch "social games" for MTV, Nickelodeon and other brands.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
MTVN said it will develop social games based on Social Express' original
intellectual property as well as shows and characters from MTV, Nickelodeon and
its other brands, with the first game to be introduced in the third quarter of
2010.  In addition, the Viacom unit said it plans to launch a publishing
platform for independent game developers based on the Social Express platform.

Social Express, which has 10 employees,
was founded in 2009 by Tony Espinoza and Neil Souza, both formerly of
online-game company Zynga.

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