USA Network Expanding Character Arcade

Posted on May 29, 2008

As television producers have become more web-savvy, they now routinely build websites for new shows, with character blogs, plot summaries, photos and message boards. It's smart because it builds fan loyalty and it makes the fans happy because they can easily view episodes they missed, interact with other fans and get the latest scoop on the show. USA Network has gone a step further with the concept, launching Character Arcade, a casual gaming site which features over 25 character-based flash games -- such as Monk-shui and Psych In Training -- and original takes on popular online games like Character Sudoku and Character Solitaire. The site was launched earlier this year and already has over 165,000 users.

The site is now expanding into social networking and will also add more games. When fans sign up, they can create their own gaming profile to play games, make friends with fellow players, track the performance of elite gamers and friends, send direct challenges to rival gamers, and win prizes. It's an interesting concept: the site is for all USA Network shows. And speaking of those, our current favorites are Burn Notice, Psych and Monk which are all returning this summer.

Here's the promo for Character Arcade: