• mocoNews, Monday, July 6, 2009 10:03 PM

TV networks like Disney, ESPN and Nickelodeon have all recently made aggressive moves into the mobile gaming market. Nickelodeon just launched the AddictingGames iNetwork, a mobile offshoot of its AddictingGames.com casual games portal. Meanwhile, ESPN has upgraded its entire casual games roster at ESPN Arcade.

The networks have a number of advantages over independent mobile game developers: They have budgets big enough to fund well-coded apps that should deliver a premium user experience. They also have stronger ties to brand advertisers, meaning they can offer a greater variety of free games, while still monetizing the users.

In addition, the nets can leverage the existing audiences for their franchises. For instance, it should be much easier for ESPN to get people to download its ESPN Zoom: Freeze Frame hidden objects game for the iPhone if they've already played it online and feel connected to the ESPN channel on TV.

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