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• Karl Gookey

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Advertising Within Video Games

Karl Gookey

The History

than shrink during the recession.

Video game advertising, or as it is known in the gaming industry “in-game advertising”, has been around for almost as long as gaming itself but only in the past ten years has it come out as viable advertising method for advertising companies. Early examples of in-game advertising were static. Some of these consisted of virtual billboards, whereas others could be considered in-game product placement. These advertisements were placed directly into the game by artists or programmers and could not be changed later. The first example was seen in the 1978 computer game Adventureland by Scott Adams, who inserted an Console Installed Base 160 150 140

______________________________ Video Game Advertising has become a lucrative market for companies who want to target the people who have cut their time spent watching TV or listening to radio. Surprised! I am talking about gamers here. A recent survey has shown that a quarter of US gamers have cut the time spent watching TV and a fifth more will be following in their footsteps. There are many people who become too engrossed in video games and can spend hours, playing video games. Videogame Advertising is becoming more and more prevalent nowadays because entertainment is being made available on the Internet and it is supposed to bead free. People are also repulsed by the intrusive nature of TV commercials and simply switch to a different channel to avoid watching ads.

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advertisement for his then forthcoming game Pirate Adventure. Examples of in-game advertising of third party products include the sponsorship of the Zool series by Chupa Chups, leading to various displays of the Chupa Chups product and brand in the game, including a series of levels set in a Sweet world. Another early example of in-game advertising can be seen in the FIFA International Soccer series, with commercial billboard advertisements featured in-game since 1994, as well as the teams’ own sponsors and kitmaker brands since 2001, when the series started using authentic kits. Marketers have traditionally kept their distance from from gaming: violent themes, paired with the perceived user, teenage boys with minimal purchasing power, don’t do much to make games attractive. But while this is actually rarely the case, recent studies have shown that in fact the average gamer is in his early 30s, not mid teens as people usually believe. In fact, the gaming industry now generates more revenue than box office sales, film rentals, and book and music sales. In 2006, worldwide gaming industry revenue came to $33 billion (£20.7 billion) and it was one of the few markets to grow rather

This is causing huge losses for TV advertisers who have started to think of different ways of creating awareness of their products and services and video game advertising is one of the most profitable ones. A few companies have even announced that video game advertising has increased their audiences and customers by a few millions and they intend to continue using this form of advertising. Advertisers are using the video game market very cleverly and are embedding their products within the video games and have the characters use them. An example of this is the game Crazy Taxi. In this game the player has the role of a taxi driver who picks up and drops passengers to a few destinations such as KFC or McDonald’s. Not only does it help the advertisers but it also adds a touch of reality to the game and makes the gamer a happy customer. Thus a win win situation is created and we can safely assume that more and more games will contain advertisements and product placements which would help advertisers to reach more audiences and capture a larger portion of the market.

Types of In-Game Advertising Static Advertising Early examples of in-game advertising were static. Some of these consisted of virtual billboards, whereas others could be considered in-game product placement. These advertisements were placed directly into the game by artists or programmers and could not be changed later. The first example was seen in the 1978 computer game Adventureland by Scott Adams, who inserted an advertisement for his then forthcoming game Pirate Adventure. Examples of in-game advertising of third party products include the sponsorship of the Zool series by Chupa Chups, leading to various displays of the Chupa Chups product and brand in the game, including a series of levels set in a Sweet world. Another early example of in-game advertising can be seen in the FIFA International Soccer series, with commercial billboard advertisements featured in-game since 1994, as well as the teams’ own sponsors and kitmaker brands since 2001, when the series started using authentic kits. Static advertisements allow the advertiser and developers to have more influence on how the advertisements are displayed in-game and can be worked to beyond the levels of a pure billboard. In Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory for example, a large glowing advertisement for AXE deodorant appears hard coded in the game, forming an obstacle to the player character. Not only did it allow the developers to experiment with dramatic lighting effects, it also drew the players’ attention by providing them with a challenge to overcome.

Dynamic Advertising Increasing Internet connectivity has led to the growth of dynamic in-game advertising. Unlike the fixed advertisements found in static in-game ads, dynamic advertisements can be altered remotely by the advertising agency. Advertisements can be tailored according to geographical location or time of day, allowing for the delivery of time-critical advertising campaigns, such

as those publicizing a movie launch. Information can be sent back from the player’s machine regarding advertisement performance; data such as time spent looking at advertisements, type of advertisement and viewing angle may be used to better formulate future campaigns and also allows the advertising agency to offer more flexible advertising campaigns to their clients. American video game publisher, THQ, commented in an interview that data collected from in-game advertising had an unexpected benefit as a design tool, “If the character is stuck in front of a brick wall with an ad poster on it, we know that the level might be too hard. We now see the adtracking system as a way to find ways to improve on a game’s design”. Because dynamic advertising campaigns do not have to be hard-coded into the game by artists and programmers, the need for advertisers to formulate and insert campaigns months in advance of a games launch is negated. Examples of dynamic in-game advertising include the 2005 computer game SWAT 4 by Irrational Games. Version 1.1 of the game featured dynamic in-game advertisements delivered by Massive Incorporated, these advertisements were used to publicize forthcoming television shows targeted at a US audience. These time and location sensitive advertisements would not have been effective if delivered through a static in-game advertising campaign. In October 2008, billboard ads featuring then US Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama appeared in the game Burnout Paradise, which was first released in January. Electronic Arts, the game’s publisher confirmed that the Obama campaign paid for the advertisements, marking the first time that a US presidential candidate has bought in-game advertising.

Examples

Sources • Wikipedia: In-Game Advertising http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-game_advertising • Media Contacts: MC Insight - Advertising in Video Games http://www.mediacontacts.com/images/common/mc-insight/mc_insight_advergaming.pdf • BBC News: Ads in video games set to rise http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3727044.stm • InventorSpot: Advertising in Video Games http://inventorspot.com/articles/advertising_video_games_33661 • Buzzle: Why Video Game Advertising is becoming the most Popular form of Advertising http://www.buzzle.com/articles/why-video-game-advertising-is-becoming-the-most-popular-form-of- advertising.html • http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/9123/fearxpszs4.jpg • http://cdn.venturebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/billboard-diesel-3-burnout.jpg • http://www.speakingsensis.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/grid_tac_01-3.jpg • http://static.gamesradar.com/images/mb//GamesRadar/us/Games/B/Battlefield%20Bad%20 Company%202/Bulk%20Viewers/PS3_360_PC/2009-05-22/BFBC2_EA3_5--screenshot.jpg