We've blogged about this issue in the past (see links below) and I think it will only become a bigger issue in the future. Here's what we had to say last year on this issue:
Once again, how many of your gamer friends have asked you if you can put advertisements into video games? I think that while you may find a tolerant attitude about it (sound familiar, like commercials in movie theatres), there aren’t many game players asking for advertisements. And that doesn’t even begin to ask about the appropriateness of placing an ad in a game where the objective is killing and maiming. There’ve certainly been some excellent results from creating custom content game experiences, but forcing ads into yet another aspect of the consumers life is a different thing.
With all of our efforts to reach an ever elusive audience, wouldn’t it be helpful to explore creating a value proposition for them, rather then continuing to look for more and more places where we can cram a message down their throats?
In video game vernacular, which of these commands seems out of place: throw punch, slay dragon or view Sprite billboard?It's a trick question; they all belong.
At least they do to Mitchell Davis, who says he believes that advertisements and product placements will soon become as integral to video games as story lines and action.
Until now, ads have appeared occasionally and haphazardly in video games. But Mr. Davis, chief executive of Massive, a new advertising agency with headquarters in New York, hopes to bring a more aggressive marketing approach to interactive media - he wants to put up billboards and make product placements for mainstream advertisers in the cyberworlds of sports, shooting and strategy games.
For now, the Massive ads will appear only in games played on personal computers connected to the Internet. But eventually Massive's technology will work in games played on consoles like the Sony PlayStation 2 and the Xbox, if they have an Internet connection. The Internet link allows Massive's software to modify the ads as players progress through a game.
"As you move through levels and zones you'll see fresh advertising," said Mr. Davis, 43. "You might see an ad for Mötley Crüe one minute and for T-Mobile the next."
Mr. Davis, a former executive at Britannica.com, has signed deals with 10 major game publishers, including Take-Two Interactive and Vivendi Universal Games, which together will include Massive's software in 40 games by the end of this year . He has also signed agreements with advertisers like Dunkin' Donuts, Intel, Paramount Pictures, Coca-Cola, Honda and Universal Music Group to place their ads with the game publishers.
Industry analysts and executives said that Mr. Davis was not the first entrepreneur trying to jump-start the video game advertising business, but that he was probably the farthest along in building an advertising agency around the idea.
There are, however, plenty of skeptics. Some game players worry that such ads will be distracting, while some game developers are concerned about having to modify their designs to satisfy advertisers.
"I don't want to pick up a sword and have it read Nike on the side," said Jeff Evertt, a video game player and programmer. But less intrusive product ads would not necessarily bother him, he said. Brian Fisher, another gamer and programmer, agreed.
"If the character drinks a Pepsi to get health points, it doesn't bug me," Mr. Fisher said.
Both Mr. Fisher and Mr. Evertt, who work at different video game studios, said they would be concerned if advertisers tried to dictate how and when the ads appeared.
Link: The New York Times > Technology > A New Reality in Video Games: Advertisements.
Link: Australian IT - Video games the new MTV (, FEBRUARY 01, 2005).
Link: Experience Manifesto: The Great Advertising Hunt Continues.
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