Real Time Ads In EA Sports Games

By Dennis Bjørn Petersen | Jul 30, 2007

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Real as in streaming advertisements piped dynamically to games like EA’s forthcoming Madden 2008, NASCAR 2008, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2008, NHL Hockey 2008, and Skate. An extension of Microsoft’s game ad company Massive Inc. (purchased by the Redmond software leviathan last year for $200 million), the new EA/Microsoft deal will allow advertisers to feed changeable ads live to virtual billboards or other promotional in-game constructs. Goodbye static, built-in, quickly outmoded huckstering, hello voguish virtual real estate with advertising space for sale by the hour, day, week, etc.

We’ve been used to ads in FIFA for a long time now, but I guess now we’ll see them updated from time to time.

It’s working by tracking the number of seconds players have seen an ad, and then switch it every 10 seconds. 10 seconds of ads view in a game would cost 10$, to be view by millions of players around the globe. Yeah, it’s more advertisements (and who needs those?), but it will also make car-driving video games much more “life like”, when you’re driving through town and the billboards are advertising things that are actually relevant, or at least produced in this decade.

“We’re thrilled to be EA’s trusted partner for dynamic in-game advertising for these products,” said Cory Van Arsdale, Massive Inc. CEO. “The addition of EA’s leading titles to our network represents a tremendous opportunity for brands targeting the youth demographic and sends a clear message that in-game advertising has arrived as a compelling medium for marketers,” he added.

Yankee Group estimates indicate around $26 million was spent in 2006 on dynamic in-game advertising, with the number expected to rise up to $100 million before the end of the year - and up to $650 million within three years.

What do you think of ads in games? Is it annoying? Do they “work” on you?

Source: Underdarck.cc