Advertising

Within
Video Games

Karl Gookey
The History
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
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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
than shrink during the recession.
______________________________
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.
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 ad-
tracking 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