Microsoft signs in-game ad deal with EA

Author: Joe Martin
Published: 26th July 2007
Comments (13) Stumble
EA's upcoming Skate is one of the games involved in Microsoft's new in-game advertising deal.

EA's upcoming Skate is one of the games involved in Microsoft's new in-game advertising deal.

In-game ads are, realistically, a hate-them or ignore-them kind of affair, with only the occasionally inventive advert for Overclocking Vitamins ever actually grabbing anybody's attention.

Still, that doesn't seem to stop the onslaught of adverts into our beloved games, such as Quake Wars: Enemy Territory, which recently fell prey to the advertising bug. Now EA and Microsoft have announced an in-game advertising partnership too for EA games on the Xbox 360 and PC.

The deal, which covers Madden, NASCAR, Tiger Woods, NHL titles as well as the upcoming Skate, will be handled by Massive, a company which Microsoft bought last year for $200 Million. Google, who also bid for the EA contract, bought rival ad company Adscape for $23 million in March according to GamesIndustry.biz.

"The real issue here is that we're making a network play. If I just had 'Madden,' while great, it would be of limited value to advertisers," said Cory Van Arsdale, chief executive of Massive told Reuters.

"We need to build an overall network and this is a major stepping point to have us do that."

The financial dealings involved in Microsoft's bid haven't been disclosed yet, but it's a timely deal for both Microsoft and EA, who have recently traded some high-level employees after Peter Moore left Microsoft for EA Sports.

Hate in-game adverts, or are they a required evil? Let us know in the forums.
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Quote will. 26th July 2007, 13:28
They are fine in any game as long as they fit the surrounding and the theme of the game. Oh and as long as they don't spy on me and the game is cheaper than a game without advertising.
Quote cjoyce1980 26th July 2007, 14:01
must fit in with the style of game, wouldn't work in a game like gears
Quote DXR_13KE 26th July 2007, 14:30
finally it depends on the game, and these games wont be to much badly impacted.
Quote mmorgue 26th July 2007, 15:09
And so long as we don't have any "unskippable" previews of upcoming games or adverts like in DVDs. That would really disuade me from purchasing any further games.
Quote Wez Weasel 26th July 2007, 15:20
Ok, this IS where the ads belong, sports games. Because thats what sponsors a lot of these things in real life.
What I am against is ads in games like BF2142, QET and the like, where....they really have no place.
Quote Glider 26th July 2007, 15:40
How useless can these ads be? EAs junk mostly runs on MSs junk...
Quote DougEdey 26th July 2007, 15:42
I felt the whole world shake, this must have been it.

I feel the most unholy union in the world just occured
Quote FIBRE+ 26th July 2007, 15:49
It will just be another way to make more money and not benefit us in any way.

I bet it will be irrelevent to the game in some cases, game prices and support wont be that much better (if at all) and there will be some sort of spyware to see if the adds are effective.

Yes i'm that optimistic.
Quote Preti9cboi 26th July 2007, 18:46
If it brings the game prices down then im all for it. I'd much rather pay $30 for a game full of ads then $50 for a game without ads.
Quote proxess 26th July 2007, 19:07
"While <random EA game> Loads, increase the size of your e-peen!"
Quote Hells_Bliss 26th July 2007, 20:10
EA is the devil.
Quote devdevil85 26th July 2007, 21:29
God-**** in-game ads....seriously how bout they just make profit on the game itself? I wonder how BF2142 did.....
Quote:
Originally Posted by Preti9cboi
If it brings the game prices down then im all for it. I'd much rather pay $30 for a game full of ads then $50 for a game without ads.
In-game ads will only ensure patches/extra content/future maintenance which you would think would come standard on any great-selling game....or so you'd think....
Quote Bladestorm 26th July 2007, 23:10
I dont mind if a restaurant at the side of a racetrack is a mcdonalds instead of a mcdoonalds, but ads thrown in completely out of place (Anarchy Online, PlanetSide I'm looking at you, had your ads ever worked properly ;p) get on my nerves pretty solidly.
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