On the heels of announcements that BarbieGirls, the online world based on Mattel's dolls, has signed up over three million users in three months, MGA has countered with an announcement of its own-- Be-Bratz, an online world with social networking elements based on its competing fashion dolls, will launch August 1st, around the same time as the Bratz movie hits theatres August 3rd.

Be-Bratz will require the purchase of a special doll (at $29.99) that comes with a USB key to access the world, while BarbieGirls doesn't require any purchase to join. BarbieGirls users will need the $60 BarbieGirls MP3 player in order to access the world's special features, though.

Users in Be-Bratz will earn virtual currency by playing minigames, which they can then spend on customizables for their Bratz avatar-- a virtual girl either made from scratch or based on existing Bratz characters, as the user prefers.

[Via PaidContent.org and ToyNews]

Be-Bratz, MGA's new online world with its own line of Bratz dolls, has announced its beta debut. The target audience, girls aged 6 and up, will be able to create their own virtual Bratz character, interact with other users, play games, raise virtual pets and explore the world.

The world is accessible with a special "glam necklace" USB key that comes with one of three new Bratz fashion dolls. The dolls also come with a mouse and mouse pad, and each doll has her own pet. The package will retail for $29.99.

The company says that monitored text messaging chat is currently available, with live chat to come later this year. Also coming later in the year is Mac and Vista support for the Be-Bratz world, which is presently only compatible with Windows OS 2000/XP.

"The online experience is ubiquitous in play patterns of today’s young girls, so this connection between doll and web is a natural for MGA, especially given the success of our past toy/web initiatives,” said Isaac Larian, CEO of MGA Entertainment.