MTV Networks Asia and leading Asian online games company GigaMedia Limited (Nasdaq: GIGM) today announced plans to co-develop and jointly publish the first Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG) based upon Nickelodeon’s global smash hit, SpongeBob SquarePants. The game will be the first Nickelodeon television property to be developed as an MMOG, and Viacom’s first to be developed outside of the United States. The SpongeBob SquarePants MMOG will launch in 2011 in multiple languages for players in China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Southeast Asia and India.

The SpongeBob SquarePants creative team at the Burbank-based Nickelodeon Animation Studios will work closely with GigaMedia to develop the online environment and SpongeBob SquarePants avatars, allowing millions of players throughout Asia to create, customize and personalize the world’s first MMOG version of Bikini Bottom.

The free-to-play model will offer an online store where users can purchase a range of bespoke items to populate and customize their experience, and will also feature a wide range of video and simple Flash(R)-based games allowing users of all skill-levels and ages to interact and share their SpongeBob SquarePants experiences online. Further details will be announced closer to the 2011 launch