Jerry Bruckheimer, the producer behind blockbusters including "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," will expand his entertainment footprint with a deal to create original videogames with MTV.
![[Jerry Bruckheimer]](http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/HC-FO987_Bruckh_20051012184716.gif)
The collaboration, announced today, is part of a growing effort by MTV's parent, Viacom Inc., to participate in the fast-growing videogame business. Viacom boosted its clout in the industry with the acquisition last year of Harmonix, the company behind popular music videogame "Rock Band," and it has committed to spending $500 million on games and interactive entertainment by the summer of 2009.
Mr. Bruckheimer's move to add videogames to his repertoire underscores an increasing interest among Hollywood power brokers in participating creatively and financially in the games business. Director Steven Spielberg has a deal with games publisher Electronic Arts Inc. to create three original games, the first of which will allow players using Nintendo Co.'s popular Wii console to build and destroy structures made of virtual blocks. Mr. Spielberg's second game for EA will be an action-adventure title.
As part of the exclusive deal with MTV Games, Mr. Bruckheimer will set up a games incubation studio in Santa Monica, Calif., to create and develop titles. A videogame enthusiast, Mr. Bruckheimer says he wants to bring a "new look" to videogames in the same way he did to television with his series "CSI."
Mr. Bruckheimer, whose movies range from gritty dramas such as "Black Hawk Down" to family fare including "National Treasure," said the new unit will be open to developing all kinds of games, from shoot-'em-ups to kids' titles. The producer said they don't have any projects in the works, but plan to "jump out of the box pretty quickly."
Any games they develop could lead to spinoffs in the movie and television worlds, said Van Toffler, president of MTV Networks music and logo group. But the MTV team won't develop games based on most of Mr. Bruckheimer's film and TV projects, as various other companies own the rights to those.
Mr. Bruckheimer said he wants to get into games now because they've become more sophisticated, aided in part by powerful new hardware systems, such as Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360, that enable higher production values.
"I love how it has now turned into storytelling," Mr. Bruckheimer said. "Now it's much more evolved. They use a lot of the techniques we use."
While the games business remains much smaller than the film industry, it is expanding far more quickly, which is why entertainment companies are investing more and more in games. In 2007, global videogame sales are expected to be $37.5 billion, up 18.5% from a year earlier, while film-industry sales are expected to be $84.3 billion, up only 3.8%, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
MTV is a relative newcomer to videogames. Viacom's early videogame strategy, after Chairman Sumner Redstone built a controlling stake in the videogame maker Midway Games, was unclear. Midway is working with Viacom's Paramount and MTV units on several projects, but has failed to deliver any blockbuster hits.
Since the acquisition of Harmonix, MTV has been building its own presence. It has a huge advantage: It can promote its properties across a powerful television platform that reaches the sweet spot of videogame players.
