Ricardo Morales - June 9th, 2009
Business, Game Design, Gamer Culture, Headlines
Do pirated games translate to lost revenue? If so, can in-game advertising fight it?
In a world where software piracy runs rampant, one indie developer is choosing the lesser of those two evils. Greener Grass Games, based in Vancouver, hopes to create a free-to-play, browser-based game supported entirely by in-game advertisements.
The practice hasn’t quite caught on with larger companies (video games are still viewed as experimental ground by many advertisers), but increased advertising in video games is part of the industry’s future, and this project could herald the beginning of a new era.
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Joey Samaniego - October 16th, 2008
Headlines, Xbox 360
It’s no secret that 18-34 year old males are a large, but hard to reach group. So it should also be no surprise that political campaigns are willing to try new strategies in an attempt to sway them. The latest tactic? In-game advertising. After all, video games are a hit with that particular demographic. With the November election just around the corner, Obama’s campaign is placing the ads only in the swing states Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Indiana, Montana, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio and Wisconsin. The ads themselves will be no different than the normal in-game ads and will mostly be in the form of stadium signs, billboards and posters in the digital worlds.
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Susanna Cumming - June 24th, 2008
Business
Massive, the in-game advertising arm of Microsoft, claims to have evidence that in-game ads not only sell stuff; players think they’re “cool.” But game forum discussions all over reveal plenty of resistance. While many gamers don’t mind seeing ads in natural contexts, that’s hardly an endorsement of ads in games in general. Accustomed as we are to getting software free in exchange for ad exposure, we know the value of our brand awareness. So if we expose ourselves to ads, we want something back.
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