Warner Bros. To Release Two Virtual Worlds for KidsWB.com in Summer and Fall

Yesterday we reported that Warner Bros. had recast its T-Works project as KidsWB.com, but was holding off on launching a virtual world until later this year. A Warner Bros. representative told me that not much more information would be available for a few months about the virtual worlds, The Warner Zone, and DC HeroZone, set for summer and fall launch dates.  There are a few more details, though.

The two worlds, as described in an announcement I couldn't for the life of me find yesterday, will be:

•    The DC HeroZone will combine the best of DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation to create a rich storytelling experience with interactivity and game play that allows kids to go deep into the world of DC Super Heroes and uncover secret files, gadgets, locations and more.

•    Warner Zone will serve as a toon universe featuring rich interactivity between users.  Kids design highly customized and personalized avatars from the Studio’s animated library and then connect with one another to explore many different worlds and environments.

Mattel has already been announced as an advertising partner for KidsWB.com and will actually have the rights to "launch advertising and promotional partnerships for the DC HeroZone, which will feature a gallery showcase of their DC product."

There's already a HeroZone filled with casual games and video, so it's not clear if that will be Mattel's focus or if the company will be expanding its virtual worlds portfolio beyond UB Funkeys and BarbieGirls.com. It does sound, though, like Mattel is fairly seriously invested.

"When we were first made aware of Warner Bros.' plans for its new KidsWB.com destination and DC HeroZone area, we immediately knew we had to be a part of it and jumped on-board with additional ideas to help maximize the site and its offerings,"  Doug Wadleigh, Vice President of Action Play Marketing, Mattel Brands, said in a statement.  "DC HeroZone serves as a fantastic vehicle for introducing kids to the world of DC super heroes, while also supporting our lineup of DC Super Hero action figures, vehicles, role play items and more, and provides a great opportunity that is a natural fit into our overall marketing mix."

Regardless of where Mattel is fitting in, Warner Bros. promised that everything on the site would be free to users through various sponsorships, which, of course, was the point of the Digital Media Presentation.

And the free-to-play environment sounds as if the site will offer a wide array of options for the kids.

"It's about customization, control, and rewards for the kids in everything they do," Sam Ades, GM of The Kids WB and VP Digital Animation, said in his presentation yesterday. "Personalization is key to the kids' experience. Kids don't just want content. They want to make it unique; they want to make it their own. So not only do we invite kids to interact with our characters, we put them in control. In this cartoon universe, kids can entirely re-imagine our characters for their avatars, or who they get to be online. Again, no rules: If a kid wants to create Tweety Bird and make him goth, cool. If they want to create Taz with a Mohawk, excellent. No limits to colors to patterns to wardrobe, even new animated spaces and decorations. What they want, they create."

Towards that end, users can  earn reward points and decide where to spend them for power-ups, games, exclusive clothes for avatars, and video sneak peaks.

That sounds like it's for the entire site, though. What about virtual worlds?

"The areas I'm most excited about are the highly immersive, ever-expanding virtual worlds: The Warner Zone and The DC HeroZone," said Ades. "These are the worlds where the kids really take control in open-ended exploration and gameplay—and, again, earning points for everything they do."

After emphasizing concerns for safety and COPPA compliance, Ades showed a video demo  promising that "the best is yet to come. Prepare to enter the KidsWB virtual worlds."

Displayed were avatar creation tools with Daphne from Scooby Doo, Taz, and Tweety. It looks as if The Warner Zone will be a fairly colorful, friendly environment. The DC HeroZone, though, is "melodramatic, where heroes and villains face off" in what is described as "the all new Batman virtual world."

That's not to say it won't be appropriate for kids--I'm certainly not going to make that  judgment after a 10-second clip--but it does look like it might skew slightly older.

For the definitely older crowd, there's TheWB.com, aimed at teens, young adults, and older viewers. There's no virtual world, but there is a pretty deep connection Facebook, letting users access Facebook content from TheWB.com and vice versa. It seems as if Warner Bros.  is slotting virtual worlds for kids and social networks for teens, but it'll be interesting to see how those merge and change as time goes on.

This might be all the news for a while, but we'll follow up when more information is forthcoming.