In-Game Advertising Coming to Anarchy Online

Swedish company Funcom has signed a deal with Massive, Inc to stream advertising into public areas of Rubi-Ka, the online world within Anarchy Online. Gamespot has the story. The ads are likely a direct result of the recent subscription free business model that the company has adopted for new players. From the article: "As consumers spends less time watching television and more time playing games (as indicated by numerous studies, including one from Nielsen), the game industry is turning its attention to understanding the potential to drive additional revenue from in-game advertising." Are all massive games going to be moving in this direction, or the direction that Guild Wars will take?

Comments

Re:In-game, eh?

[mrgreen4242]

You know that's probably a really good idea... With EQ2 doing the /pizza thing, I could see other games with other clients doing similar stuff. Maybe you Amazon.com account gets linked into your WoW account and when you are shopping with a vender, the first item on eery 'page' is something from the the Amazon "store made for you" page or your wishlist or something. Right click it and it launches an in game browser window to give you more info and complete your purchase (billed right to you WoW account card). Blizzard gets a cut and everyones fees go down.

Also, I think that product placement has a much bigger future in MMORPGs than just billboard style ads. You WoW players will know what I mean when I say "I want DEANS Ice Cold Milk", etc. All in all, if it helps cut subscription fees then I'd be all for it as long as it is integrated with the game and not, say, ads placed trailer stye before it launches, etc.

Rob