The partnership will see SpongeBob SquarePants and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles standalone experiences launch on Roblox later in 2023.
Game developer Gamefam has announced a partnership with Paramount Consumer Products and Nickelodeon that will bring two fan-favourite franchises – SpongeBob SquarePants, the most-watched animated series for almost two decades, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, one of the most popular kids’ franchises – to Roblox.
“We are creating immersive new experiences on Roblox to let the millions of SpongeBob SquarePants and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans play and explore inside these worlds alongside the iconic characters they know and love,” said Doug Rosen, senior vice president, Games and Emerging Media, Paramount. “Expanding both franchises to new platforms is a critical part of our gaming strategy, and Gamefam’s expertise in creating and managing live-operated worlds at scale makes it an ideal partner for us to connect audiences with our content on Roblox.”
“We are honoured to partner with Paramount to bring these iconic properties to new audiences in metaverse gaming,” said Ricardo Briceno, chief business officer at Gamefam. “Globally beloved fan-favourite properties like SpongeBob SquarePants and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are the exact types of brands Roblox audiences engage with on a massive scale, and Gamefam is uniquely positioned to make them successful on the platform.”
The SpongeBob SquarePants and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles standalone experiences in Roblox will launch later in 2023.
Gamefam has a proven track record of partnering with global brands to create new and highly engaging Roblox gaming experiences. As the first professional and largest metaverse game developer, Gamefam will utilise its strengths and team of native ‘Robloxian’ developers to create exciting and immersive new entertainment experiences celebrating the beloved IPs from the Paramount portfolio.
Considered one of the most popular kids’ franchises, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a classic, global property created in 1984 by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It first debuted as a successful comic book series and then became a hit animated TV show, a live-action television series and later spawned numerous blockbuster theatrical releases. The property is a global consumer products powerhouse, with toys, apparel, video games, DVDs and more generating billions of dollars at retail.
Nickelodeon brought the franchise to life again in 2012 with the CG-animated series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and then reimagined the Heroes in a Half-Shell with the 2D-animated series Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 2019. As part of a separate deal, Nickelodeon and Netflix partnered to produce an original animated 2D film Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie, which premiered in 2022. A theatrical motion picture, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, is currently in production at Nickelodeon with Point Grey Pictures. The film will be distributed by Paramount Pictures.
Since launching in 1999, SpongeBob SquarePants has reigned as the most-watched animated series for nearly 20 consecutive years, while generating a universe of beloved characters, pop culture catchphrases and memes, theatrical releases, consumer products, a Tony award-winning Broadway musical and a global fan base. SpongeBob SquarePants is one of the most widely distributed properties in Paramount International history, seen in more than 170 countries, translated in 29+ languages, and averaging more than 100m total viewers every quarter.
SpongeBob SquarePants was created by Stephen Hillenburg and produced by Nickelodeon in Burbank, Calif. The character-driven cartoon chronicles the nautical and sometimes nonsensical adventures of SpongeBob, an incurable optimist and earnest sea sponge, and his undersea friends.
