Games Get Ads - Brought to You by Pepsi

from Stardock Forums
It is now official, video games are the next portal to the advertising giants that splash TV and Movies. Massive Inc. has launched a network to place ads within games. Massive already has such heavy hitters as Coke, Paramount and Intel, and promises to have 40 games out with infused advertisements by year's end.

The addition of in-game ads has been in "beta" testing since last year, and with publishers having little to no work to incorporate the ads for an additional $2 in sales revenue per copy sold, the idea was a no brainer. Massive's ads have already appeared in "Anarchy Online" as well as the new "Splinter Cell Chaos Theory," in places that people would normally expect to see ads, shop windows, billboards, etc. Massive already claims that ten publishers have joined including Take-Two Interactive and Ubi Soft.

The idea of in-game ads isn't all win-win for some gamers don't like the idea. Harris Nesbitt analyst Edward Williams hit the nail on the head with his view on the subject, "How companies generate incremental revenues through ads will be critical to the consumer's willingness to put up with it. In other words, a successful campaign will blend in with the rest of the game -- maybe even add to the realism of the product."

Source: CNN Money

143 views 0 replies