Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on Nickelodeon

Less than one month ago we started hearing murmurs that a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle game was in development. At the time, rumors suggested that Rocksteady Studios, known for adapting fan-favorite comic material into critically-lauded video game experiences (Batman: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City), was supposedly heading-up development.

Now, we're getting word that, while a new TMNT title is en route, it may not feature the gritty and gothic-inspired tone Rocksteady would have likely created - instead, it looks as though a title will be developed by Activision, in conjunction with Nickelodeon, as a tie-in to a new animated cartoon.

The TMNT game news comes out of Toy Fair 2012 - where Toy Ark managed to dig-up an intriguing tidbit about the potential Activision/Nickelodeon team-up. While the "news," at this point, is pretty slim - there's no doubt that a media board for Nickelodeon's upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series definitely offers an intriguing possibility.

Check out the image below (again via Toy Ark):

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Game from Activision

In case you're lost in all of the exciting "Playmates Marketing" partner mentions (or confounded by the especially dark font), the line that's causing all the Activision TMNT game speculation reads:

Cross-promotion with key licensees, including IDW (the comic publisher) & Actvision.

At the very least, the line would indicate that Activision and Nickelodeon are working together to create some kind of digital tie-in to the upcoming TMNT animated series. However, it's unclear exactly what form this digital tie-in will take - as Acvitision doesn't only create hardcore console experiences. It's certainly possible that this TMNT tie-in could just be a Facebook or iOS game - not a full-fledged action-adventure title.

Obviously the news raises significantly more questions than answers. What is the Activision/Nickelodeon tie-in and does this mean that Rocksteady Studios is not working on an Arkham City-like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game? While two TMNT projects could be in development at the same time, especially if they were targeted at different demographics (Rocksteady: the mature and gritty TMNT and Activision: a light-hearted cartoon tie-in), Viacom (who owns Nickelodeon) has been pretty careful with the brand lately - since watching Warner Bros. bungle a CGI animated reboot film, TMNT, in 2007.

Would Viacom (who wants to reboot the Turtles on the big screen as well - through sister company Paramount Pictures) really authorize this many TMNT projects - not to mention one that would be distributed by a rival company (since Rocksteady is owned by Time Warner)? Time will tell.

That all said, the prospect of a Rocksteady Studios TMNT title is significantly more compelling (and one that could attract high-profile hardcore gamer sales).

We'll keep you updated with further TMNT video game news as more information is unveiled.

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Follow me on Twitter @benkendrick for further updates.

Source: Toy Ark [via CVG]