In part due to growth of its current gaming properties and an increase of traffic in its various casual games web sites, the music television giant and its networks want to expand their collective presence and grab a larger piece of the gaming industry pie. To do this, MTV has announced that it will be investing more than $500 million in games over the next two years.

Currently, MTV's biggest stake in games is through its network web sites, such as AddictingGames and Nickelodeon's NickArcade.com. The impending release of Rock Band for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 (in which MTV is a big part of) is the first part of MTV's expansion, with further expansions to come in the online casual, mobile, handheld and console game areas. The MTV-owned GameTrailers.com will also be included in this overall expansion strategy.