Nickelodeon Kids and Family Games Group’s AddictingGames and Shockwave sites are introducing new community and social networking-oriented features throughout the next six months.

The new features include profiles and high scores on AddictingGames, and a friend feature, as well as animated, talking avatars on Shockwave.

In addition, AddictingGames is adding several new ‘Create and Share Games’ that visitors can play, customize, share and compare with their friends.

The improvements are a direct result of the increased spending on casual games and internet initiatives announced earlier this year by Nickelodeon. Most of the new applications will launch in the fall.

AddictingGames features more than 3,000 different casual games and brought in 10.7 million unique visitors last month. Users spend an average of 30.5 minutes on the site. Shockwave’s game library includes more than 640 free online, multiplayer and premium games, reaching 5.5 million unique visitors.