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Massive Inc. Advertising Takes Off

Posted by Zonk on from the they're-everywhere! dept.

Bluecobra writes "PlanetSide, a FPS-based MMO game published by Sony Entertainment of America (SOE) is now using advertising in-game. PlanetSide already charges a fee of $12.99 a month to play and now users are also treated to Fanta, Coca-Cola, and Deuce Bigalow advertisements." Additionally, Martey writes "A recent patch to SWAT 4 introduces dynamic in-game advertising in the form of randomly generated posters on walls in the game. Provided by Massive, Inc., the game downloads new ads each time the game is loaded. Even more onerously, the game contacts Massive's servers to provide data about the length of time and viewing angles that the player looked at the posters."

3 of 135 comments (clear)

  1. Context by hermit7323 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    How can you fit Deuce Bigalow ads into a game about dominating a planet?

  2. So? by NanoGator · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So they show posters of real products, whoop-de-fuck. Either the game's worth paying the monthly fee or it's not, Coca Cola posters aren't going to make or break the game. I just hope they're not stupid enough to actually cause inconviences in the game with the ads.

    --
    "Derp de derp."
  3. That's a dangerous road. by Wilson_6500 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    That's a pretty disturbing thought. If the ads are germane to the setting of the game--I support that idea, at least, since I don't want my lv. 97 Superlative Love Ninja to heal up by drinking Sprite--then that'll prompt game creators (or maybe I should say publishers and developers) to set more games in modern/semi-future times in order to make more money.

    We'll see more Madden NFL games and fewer Fallouts. More GTA knockoffs (and not Vice City, either) and fewer Final Fantasy knockoffs. More Counterstrikes and fewer HL2s.