Littlest Pet Shop to Launch Yet Another Kids Virtual World

They keep piling on. Hasbro and Electronic Arts are linking up to launch a virtual world themed to the Littlest Pet Shop toys. The site is purportedly aimed at the tween market, but I know plenty of 5-year-olds who love LPS, so I bet the demos trend way younger than tweens.

LPS has been a big success for Hasbro, with sales up 26% in 2008.

According to Kzero’s latest virtual worlds universe tracking study, the 8-10 age group is a sweet spot for virtual worlds, with more than 40 worlds active or in development, including Webkinz, Barbie Girls, Neopets and Club Penguin. Very few worlds target kids younger than that, so LPS may be among the first, even if Hasbro claims to be reaching the tween segment.

I’ll be publishing an eMarketer report on kids, gaming and virtual worlds in the next few months.

Virtual Worlds for Kids “Exploding”

Now that the marketing community has firmly given the heave-ho to Second Life, is virtual world marketing dead?

Not a chance.

In fact, 2008 will see a ton of activity. With major media companies such as Disney, Viacom and Turner betting big bucks on virtual worlds for kids and young people, the market will continue to grow.

As Sibley Verbeck of Electric Sheep Co. told ClickZ, “The kid’s space is exploding.” Good for him, since his company’s SL business has foundered.

Virtual worlds operate at the sweet spot between gaming (hugely popular with children and tweens) and social networking (teens and young adults). They have the potential to draw huge audiences from both demographics.

Now, if only Webkinz would let my kid log in and register her new pet. Yesterday the site’s servers were down.