National Geographic Games is the latest division to come out of the nonprofit organization, which will work with existing publishers and developers to create fun quality games and carry out the org’s core themes of inspiring people to care about the planet. The initiative also hopes to reach a new generation of families across a variety of platforms, including console, handheld, online and mobile, combining Nat Geo’s resources from mission programs, TV, entertainment and publishing.

Leading NGG as president will be Paul Levine from National Geographic Ventures, and Chris Mate, a former exec at Take2 Interactive and Bethesda Softworks, is coming on as VP and GM to oversee and manage daily global operations.

In partnership with Namco Bandai Games America and Sony Computer Entertainment to globally publish and distribute the org’s branded titles. Herod’s Lost Tomb is the first in-house produced game released this month, featuring content from National Geographic magazine and channel, available for free in both a Flash version at www.nationalgeographic.com/channel and downloadable for PC, Mac and iPhone. Already released this month from Namco Bandai is pet-simulational game National Geographic: Panda for Nintendo DS, which also includes Nat Geo articles to teach players about the animals.