MTV Networks’ (NYSE: VIA) Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group’s AddictingGames is going to announce a program designed to encourage developers to make more popular productions. The rewards program will launch sometime in Q3. Over the next 12 months, AddictingGames will reward the developers of the portal’s top 25 games that generate the most plays, ranked by the site, at the end of each quarter.

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—An abacus, anyone?: Hopefully, developers will be able to figure out the math. The bonus percentage will be pro-rated according to the total number of plays the game attracts. Then, the figure is divided by the total game plays of the top 25 games combined. Here’s Nickelodeon’s calculation: if the total game plays generated from the top 25 list in the quarter equals 100 million, and an individual top 25 game generates five million game plays in that quarter, that developer will be awarded 5 percent of the total bonus pool. Got it? It’s still not clear what the dollar amounts will average on that, but suffice to say, it’s certainly better than nothing.The effort is part of Nick’s goal of adding 75 self-published titles and 600 games from outside developers. 

—First money, next a gaming awards show: Nickelodeon has another way to shower game developers with honor and affection; the MTVN unit will host The Most AddictingGames Awards —working title— next summer. Nick emphasizes that the show is being tailored not for TV, but as a “multiplatform” event, adding that the show is one of the networks top priorities looking ahead to 2009.