Chromophores and materials that exhibit nonlinear absorption over a broad spectrum and with high temporal dynamic range are of interest for application in materials engineering and biology. Recent work by a number of research groups has led to the development of a new family of organometallic chromophores and materials featuring interesting and useful nonlinear absorption properties. These systems contain the platinum acetylide moiety as a fundamental molecular unit, combined with delocalized, pi-conjugated electron systems. These organometallic chromophores provide a unique combination of properties, such as negligible ground state absorption in the visible region, large spin-orbit coupling giving rise to high triplet excited state yield, triplet lifetime in the microsecond domain, high two-photon cross-section in the visible and near-infrared regions, and high triplet triplet absorption cross-section in the visible and near-infrared region. This Spotlight on Application highlights recent developments in this area, combining background and review on nonlinear absorption in platinum acetylide chromophores and describing significant recent results from our own laboratory.