The release of Madden NFL 11 this summer will mark the beginning of a new shift in policy for publisher Electronic Arts—they will sell all the in-game advertisements themselves.
Previously the company had relied on third-party in-game ad specialists, such as Massive Inc. and IGA Worldwide reports MediaWeek. EA’s Senior Vice President of Global Media Sales Elizabeth Harz said the move would allow EA to offer more elaborate,” integrated packages to advertisers.”
Greg March, Digital Group Director of the advertising agency Wieden + Kennedy thinks the move will streamline the ad buying process, “I love the idea of being able to talk to only one guy.” He continued, “That’s a logistical, procedural improvement, which should help. EA should be able to sell deeply on every platform.
Massive, which is owned by Microsoft, has estimated that the global in-game ad category could grow to $1.0 billion by 2014. An article penned by Massive GM JJ Richards last year offered that gamers like in-game advertisement because “it adds to the realism.”
GP: I would be shocked if many gamers came out and said they were in favor of in-game ads. The notion that games should be cheaper because of the revenue generated from ads is a bit naive too. Maybe the best case scenario is that in-game ads help offset the growing costs of development and assist in keeping the price of games from climbing any higher than they are now?
Comments
Re: EA Brings In-Game Ad Sales In-House
in game adds? if we see them making games cheaper for us then sure go ahead if not and its just to fill someones pockets forget it.
Re: EA Brings In-Game Ad Sales In-House
I wouldn't ever say I like the ingame ads, but there are two circumstances under which I don't really mind that much when they show up.
The first is when their existence provides a tangible benefit to the player. The only real example I can think of there, though, is Anarchy Online -- their free-to-play accounts are ad-supported.
The second example is when their existence is entirely consistent with the setting. Sports games like the above-mentioned Madden 2011 are a good example. I'd still like to see the price go down as a result of having them included, mind you, but as long as the ingame ads are restricted to "consistent with the setting" I can live with the price staying the same.
Re: EA Brings In-Game Ad Sales In-House
I remember an artical a while back that said prices of games might go down to $40 because of good sells of DLC. I wonder if we're any closer now that publishers are putting in in-game ads into the mix.
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Re: EA Brings In-Game Ad Sales In-House
.... If they're selling in game ad space, shouldn't games be getting LESS expensive?
And when I wrote that, I got the voice of that Office Space guy in my head going "Yyyeahhhh, we won't be doing that, if you could just continue paying higher prices that would be grreaaat"
Re: EA Brings In-Game Ad Sales In-House
Basically what Bloodharp said. I don't care about the ads at all, they can even put them during the load screens (as long as it doesn't make the load time longer), just don't raise the prices any more!
-Optimum est pati quod emendare non possis-It is best to endure what you cannot change-
Re: EA Brings In-Game Ad Sales In-House
They already know that if they push game prices up past 60, they wont be able to sell any game anyways. 50 was a hard sale backwhen, and i remember making damn sure i wanted what i was buying. When it hit 60, i had to be even more sure with tons of prior research and a plan to acquire it when i wished to. I doubt i could buy any if it hit $70 though.
In war, truth is the first casualty.