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EA Signs Deal with Massive and IGA

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the it's-for-realisim dept.

GameDailyBiz reports on EA's deal with two in-game ad companies. They've announced a partnership with Massive, Inc. and IGA Worldwide to incorporate dynamic advertising into some of their most popular games. From the article: "The first title to utilize Massive's dynamic in-game advertising will be the upcoming Need for Speed Carbon. Gamers 'will see both static and dynamic brand presence integrated into the game environments, across the platforms and across the geographies where they play' ... The DICE developed Battlefield 2142 will be the initial title to incorporate IGA's dynamic advertising. Following Battlefield, 'at least two additional EA titles' will be integrated into IGA's network through the course of the deal."

52 comments

  1. This FP is brought to you by... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Anonymous Trolls, bringing you the same posts yet slightly different since Fifa 98

    1. Re:This FP is brought to you by... by spysmily1 · · Score: 1

      Anonymous Cowards, bringing you the same hypocritical post since the birth of the Internet while not logging in.

      --
      Videogames made me kill people...I also eat mushrooms to grow bigger.
  2. Seems like an excellent time by fractalus · · Score: 4, Insightful

    to stop buying EA games.

    Honestly, there are few EA games that are compelling these days, and I'm flat-out sick of paying $50 for a game only to have more ads shoved in my face. This deal does absolutely nothing for gamers and games, and is only about EA grabbing as much money as they can.

    --
    People are never as simple as their stereotypes. This applies equally to Christians, Muslims, and Emacs-lovers.
    1. Re:Seems like an excellent time by Shads · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yah, more or a less, now if they cut the price to 9.95$ (one time) and have in game advertising, I'm all for it.

      Otherwise, it'll just be a game I won't buy.

      EA used to be a pretty good publisher really, now they're worse than all the rest... it's like Sony in the MMO market.

      --
      Shadus
    2. Re:Seems like an excellent time by b1ad3runn3r · · Score: 1
      EA's M.O. is "buy game lisencing rights to popular movie, turn on fluff-generator (game development studio), hype x 10^5, profit with no innovation".

      EA is the anti-jeebus of gaming.

      On another note... I wonder if the advertising games will get click-generated revenue from the sales of the advertised games.

      --
      "Reality continues to ruin my life" - Calvin and Hobbes
    3. Re:Seems like an excellent time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      to stop buying EA games.

      Does this mean EA expects you to pirate their games?

    4. Re:Seems like an excellent time by Reapman · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I have no problem with in game advertising... to a point. Sports and racing comes to mind. Having real company names on the boards of the hockey arena or on billboards as you race in a city is great in my books. BF2142? Seeing an ad for toilet paper on the side of some mech that just blew me away is not my idea of a good idea.

    5. Re:Seems like an excellent time by regular_gonzalez · · Score: 5, Funny

      BF2142? Seeing an ad for toilet paper on the side of some mech that just blew me away is not my idea of a good idea.

      Don't be ridiculous -- toilet paper doesn't even exist in 2142; it's all about the 3 seashells.

      --
      Due to circumstances beyond my control, I am master of my fate and captain of my soul.
    6. Re:Seems like an excellent time by cliffski · · Score: 1

      agreed 100%. Theres no excuse for ads in games. we play games to escape the flipping real world, not to see which brand of cola is hip.

      --
      DRM-free indie games for the PC and Mac: Positech Games
    7. Re:Seems like an excellent time by absorbr · · Score: 1

      haha, I found this funny. Sorry though I don't know how to give you funny points :)

    8. Re:Seems like an excellent time by Das+Modell · · Score: 1

      What is the purpose of ads anyway? I guess companies pay EA to advertise on their behalf, but what do the companies get out of it? Does anyone really pay attention to advertisements on the Internet anymore, let alone in FPS games? I may notice stationary banners (not that I ever click on them), but popup windows get terminated in a few nanoseconds.

      I suppose advertising on the Internet must work since it's so popular, but who actually responds to it?

    9. Re:Seems like an excellent time by Lord_Dweomer · · Score: 1
      Keep well in mind that with rising development costs, inflation, and a shit economy, probably the ONLY reason you have been paying $50 for the past several years is because of things like this.

      Everybody harps on companies for not lowering their price when they have another revenue stream such as this. What those people don't realize is that the additional revenue may not be enough to lower the price of the product, but it will certainly help prevent them from being forced to RAISE the price due to outside influences.

      --
      Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
    10. Re:Seems like an excellent time by fractalus · · Score: 1

      That argument smells like complete BS. EA is extraordinarily profitable, as evidenced by the bonus they gave me while I worked there, which is based on company, studio, and personal performance. EA's sweatshop environment is all about shoveling out the dung as fast as they can.

      Don't misunderstand me. EA has a lot of very talented artists, musicians, programmers, producers, and QA people, but the way the company is run clearly indicates that it's all about profit and those talented folk are just cannon fodder.

      --
      People are never as simple as their stereotypes. This applies equally to Christians, Muslims, and Emacs-lovers.
    11. Re:Seems like an excellent time by aichpvee · · Score: 1

      They'd better hope people will put up with ads, because the only other option is to make the sensible business decision of not spending more on development than they can hope to make back from their rather limited target market. People sure as hell aren't going to pay much over $50 for a game, though I think in the next few years most people will give in and be paying $60 for games without thinking too much about it.

      --
      The Farewell Tour II
    12. Re:Seems like an excellent time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually this has less to do with normal gameplay revenue and a LOT more to do with funding support for more online development after the game ships! Think about it, right now we're lucky to get one patch from EA after a game is shipped, and that patch is done and ready before usually by the time the game is in store because of the time lead needed to freeze code and create inventory for stores.

      Ever wonder why online gameplay sucks in so many games, Need for Speed in particular as of the last few releases. Because the online portion is the last to get started, costs the most money and brings in very little monetary incentive to the developer to continue development and polishing. With these ads in games, if tastefully done of course, we now will see a monetary incentive for EA to do a very well done and immersive online portion, because the more people play online now the more $$$ they make in return!! That's a tradeoff I'll gladlytake! Especially as a NFS fan as the last 3 games have been fun, but online sucked horribly for them.

    13. Re:Seems like an excellent time by Lord_Dweomer · · Score: 1
      "That argument smells like complete BS. EA is extraordinarily profitable"

      I don't disagree with that statement. Unfortunately, shareholders don't exactly tolerate LESS profit than the previous quarter. This means that they need to come up with ways to constantly make more money. In reality, its a giant balancing act. Please reread my post. My point is that they need to get additional revenue to satisfy shareholders, but they know that they can only charge so much for games so they supplment it with in-game advertising to prevent themselves from being forced to raise core game prices to meet those rising revenue expectations.

      --
      Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
  3. Hmm... by MaestroSartori · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ...Need for Speed I can see working ok, it'll have plenty of trackside ad places naturally as part of the game. But where will the Battlefield ads be? I hope they're not too intrusive.

    --
    Game dev and music blog
    1. Re:Hmm... by LehiNephi · · Score: 1

      My concerns echo yours. Some venues are perfect for in-game ads, but some are about the worst place you could find them. I don't have a problem with in-game ads per se--it's a valid way for a game producer/distributor to increase revenue. But if it doesn't fit the game, forget it.

      Take BF 2142, for instance. I don't think that a pristine Pepsi ad would do much for the immersion/realism of the game, and I have a hard time believing that the advertisers would be enthusiastic about giving players the ability to destroy/tag/mark the ad. A clean billboard in the middle of a war zone would be an eyesore (to put it lightly), and the potential for in-game grafitti (be it a tag, a mark left from an explosion, or whatever) is great.

      Of course, this is EA we're talking about here...

      --
      Help find a cure for cancer. Join the [H]orde
    2. Re:Hmm... by josteos · · Score: 1

      *IF* the ads can be marked by gunshot/explosion, and are designed to not look "new", then I'm ok with it. There are already several fake ads in the game; replacing them with these ads would be fine as long as it blends.

      They already do this in Planetside, and for the most part its OK. The only really annoying ones are the mini-movies that come with sound, but they limited those to the sanctuaries so they don't annoy the fsck out of you when yer busy fighting.

      Several peeps immediately went out & host-blocked the ad servers; I wasn't annoyed enough to do that.

      Of course, that makes sense in games like Planetside that runs on a central server: the extra income helps keep the server alive. Not sure about it working well for games like BF2142 where it won't have a central server running the map.

      --
      Save the Music; Save the World at http://www.TuneTriever.com (Our latest Android game)
    3. Re:Hmm... by Dorceon · · Score: 1

      They just need to make the ads match the content. For a game like Battlefield, for example, an appropriate ad would for a Smith & Wesson. Now there's an ad no parent can complain about.

      --
      What sound do people on rollercoasters make? Hint: it's not Xbox 360.
  4. Nice by KaiserSoze · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I didn't really need another reason not to buy EA games, but there you go.

    --

    "What we elect to call imagination is mere combination of things not heretofore combined." - Frank Norris

  5. This post brought to you by McDonalds! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can't wait to pimp my new McGriddle sponsored body armor while owning some noobs with my l33t pistol skills.

  6. McDonalds Madden 2008: Brought to you by Massive.. by b1ad3runn3r · · Score: 1
    So the in-game advertising is going to be a 1-click link to the buy page for a different game. Cross platform in-game advertising of other games! The you-win screen will be a "If you liked this game..." and a list of links of other games to buy.

    "You have found the Sword of Vengeance! This quest brought to you by the makers of our rts-gaming-affiliate.."

    --
    "Reality continues to ruin my life" - Calvin and Hobbes
  7. Well there goes the neighborhood... by heartless_ · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I was worried about Warhammer Online when Mythic was bought out by EA. I was worried about BF 2142 when the hacks started showing up in beta after a couple days. I am now terrified for both games because in-game advertising can ruin games. Not to mention if I am running a server for BF 2142 you better damn well believe I want my fair share of the profits from EA's advertising. This is going to be a mess and I can only hope it stays out of Warhammer Online.

    1. Re:Well there goes the neighborhood... by cptgrudge · · Score: 1

      From what I've heard, Mythic has still retained a lot of creative control, and interference from EA is not that much. In any case, I doubt that you'll see ads for Pepsi or Coke in Warhammer Online.

      "Three out of four Greenskins agree! Diet Coke tastes better than Diet Pepsi!"

      --
      Qualitas edurus commercium, nullus penitus net rimor, nullus deus beneficium
    2. Re:Well there goes the neighborhood... by Barny · · Score: 1

      And better than that, Gamesworkshop (bless their monopolistic hides) retain rights to veto all work that goes into WAR, and have the control to tell MythicEA to shove it into their neither regions :)

      As for the original topic, if they are makeing ongoing revinue off these games, that will lower the cost to buy them right? right? oh wait, I am liveing in a god damned dream world :/

      --
      ...
      /me sighs
  8. In-game ads ruin games by RichPowers · · Score: 1

    Ads are realistic in a racing game and I probably won't mind them so much. But in the post-apocalyptic future world of Battlefield 2142? I'd like to know how they plan on doing that. Reminds me of when SOE introduced ads into PlanetSide. Yep, nothing like seeing posters for Deuce Bigalow European Gigolo before heading off into battle...on another planet...several thousand years in the future. Yet another reason for me to stop buying EA games.

  9. they'll get more cash per game sold by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    but less far less games ...

  10. Added experience or unbridled greed? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I don't think I'd mind certain ads placed in games like sports games where it adds to a game's realism. (Think ads behind homeplate, around the upper deck walls in a hockey rink, etc)

    Of course, I will mind paying AAA price for a game AND still get ads. That is one of the major reasons I stopped going to see movies in a theater years ago: ticket prices went up and I was still bombarded for ads for everything from TV shows to razers.

    Of course all this is moot and I'm sure EA will totally fudge it all up by having to pause the game to download each ad dynamically to insert in all the wrong places (This tank brought to you by Fudgey Pop! Bend over and have a Fudgey Pop!)

  11. I like the Ads in Planetside by CrazyJim1 · · Score: 1

    After killing and being killed day after day, its fun to make fun of the ads. Fast and the Furious started off audibly,"Welcome to Tokyo." So when people started to get involved with a big fire fight, someone would inevivatably say,"Welcome to Tokyo."

    --
    God spoke to me.
  12. In other news by remembertomorrow · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "New patch released by to remove advertising in game."

    EA can't and won't win.

    --
    Registered Linux user #421033
    1. Re:In other news by KDR_11k · · Score: 1

      Most likely you'd get ads for the warez group on those billboards instead.

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
  13. Re:McDonalds Madden 2008: Brought to you by Massiv by antialias02 · · Score: 1

    The scariest part of that Madden comment is that you might be right. Can you just imagine in-game commercial breaks at the two minute warning?

  14. This has been said before... by paladinwannabe2 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Obviously some games will support Dynamic Advertising better than others. Even the Article talks about doing this for sports simulations- racing, basketball, etc.- where such a thing would fit in. I am worried about this advertising in Battlefield 2142- It might be really disturbing to see XBox ads in advanced battlefields. Of course, with some humor it might be good-

    Get the New HBox! Fully supports the latest HD-Holofield Technology!
    Drink Pepsi- Official Drink of the Alpha Centauri Reasearch Station!
    McDonalds- Proud Sponsor of the 2142 Olympic Games!

    --
    You are reading a copy of my copyrighted post.
    1. Re:This has been said before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, for some genres in-game advertising actually *adds* realism. How many sports do you see on TV without advertisements plastered all over the stadiums, field, even players? Adding advertisments to sports games, therefore, actually adds realism. Even for games set in the future it makes a bit of sense, as pervasive advertising seems to be where we're heading, as proven by the in-game advertising itself...

    2. Re:This has been said before... by KDR_11k · · Score: 1

      I don't think there's any game outside of japanese dating sims where ads for an "H-Box" are appropriate.

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
  15. Not too surprising. by antialias02 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    While most ad-laden software helps keep prices down, somehow I doubt that this new advertising will help reduce the cost of EA's software. Seems like just another big-business move to line the pockets at the irritation of the consumer.

  16. LOL by Smartcowboy · · Score: 3, Funny

    For a momment I tough EA signed a deal with a grocery store!

    1. Re:LOL by Barny · · Score: 1

      Yeah, that was the first thing I thought too.

      Could not really immagine the ads for them being applicable to gamers tho, I do most of my ordering from pizza/chinese delivery places ^_^

      --
      ...
      /me sighs
  17. hey sounds good! by rabbot · · Score: 2, Informative

    Give me the ads...just don't expect me to pay more than $10 for the game.

  18. Thanks! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So this is gona make the games cheaper for the consumer, right?

    right?

  19. Anarchy Online and others... by BSonline · · Score: 1

    Anarchy online offers ads. I can still see the "Sprite" ad in my mind, although I haven't played it in over a year. If you pay for a subscription, the ads go away. They are tastefully done, and generally out of the way on virtual billboards in cities. They don't look out of place, and cycle regularly with fantasy ads.
    With that said, I really don't like the idea of ads in non ad-supported games. They'll never bother me on the side of a race track or in places where I normally see ads. But what about dynamic ads? Do they have a right to use my bandwidth to deliver an update that is just new ads? I don't see the prices of games with ads going down. I also don't see the back of the box saying "Modes: Multiplayer Genre: RPG Ads: In your face and all over the place".
    I prefer ads for stuff I already like. And in some cases, I consciously let the ads influence me. Hey, part of my fun tonight was brought to me by Sprite. I think I'll make that my next soda. But I intend to actively boycott any game that makes "extra" money off of ads, especially at my expense or annoyance.

    Drop 10-20 bucks off the price tag and we'll talk. But while we're talking, I'd like for you to look at some of my adsense ads...

    --
    PS: That is what part of the alphabet would look like if the letters "Q" and "R" were removed.
  20. Re:McDonalds Madden 2008: Brought to you by Massiv by joystickgenie · · Score: 2, Interesting

    They have already done it.

    Didn't you see the halftime brought to you by Pontiac where they have a car skid across the center field logo in NCAA football? Part of me died every time I saw that.

    I can't remember what year that was in though.

  21. whee more spam by gsn · · Score: 2, Funny

    I can just see it now - in game ads like
    "Sensationall revoolution in medicine!
    E'''nlarge your p''enis up to 10 cm or up to 4 i'c'h'e's!
    Its h'erbal solution what hasnt side effect, but has 110% guaranted results!"

    "Golden Shower Massage Escort Cervix!"

    "Hot stock alert! PodunkBiz L.L.C has just discovered an oilfield! Official announcement Tuesday! Buy stock now!"

    Lets home there are some mods to disable these or change them into pron or something.
    I wonder if the ads will be destructable. Wheres that bloody rocket launcher...

    --
    Reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.
  22. Count me out, EA! by rts008 · · Score: 1

    Part of the reason for me to play games is a little healthy escape from the real world.
    I'll be damned before I pay $50-$60 to get commercials and spammed in game.
    I was looking forward to BF2142, now all I can say is EA positively lost a sale of teh game to me!
    The way it's shaping up, I'm gonna add that 10 GB HDD I had laying around, load Win98 on it, and Hello XCom-again!
    Screw the advertising market- spam in the inbox, spam on TV, now spam in the games...not for me.

    --
    Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
  23. Now watch for the inevitable downturn by Stinky+Fartface · · Score: 1

    It's only a matter of time now until game sales start to dry up, but will the industry look back and undertand why people stopped buying? Endless mediocre movie game tie-ins and now advertisments. No doubt they'll take an attitude of willfull obliviousness to this and instead claim it's piracy hurting their sales. Now, if they were to offer FREE games that were ad supported, well that might be a different story. That might revolutionize the industry. But my guess is they are still going to charge $50 for the same product, only now it'll be all tarted up with product placements and annoying billboards.

  24. Come on guys! Give them some slack! by ABaumann · · Score: 2, Funny

    I mean, when has EA ever made a mistake that was regrettable? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaq_Fu

  25. Greed by Pearson · · Score: 1

    I don't mind ads in games where they are appropriate and fit the world, but you know they aren't going to pass any of that revenue on to the players, which is lame.

    --
    I...I'm attacking the darkness!
  26. Does this mean I can sell some of EA's bandwidth? by sudog · · Score: 1

    I'd love to offer a deal to some targetting marketers who want to sell some stuff to EA employees.. :)

  27. Hmm. . . by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Isn't Massive that company Microsoft just bought?

  28. There Is An Easy Fix by Atomm · · Score: 1

    If it's client side.

    Go to C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc
    Right click edit on the file named hosts
    Add {127.0.0.1 ads.igaworldwide.com} (remove {}) or what ever they name their ad servers.

    If it's server side, then pushed to the client, even better. Then it will only take the server doing this to protect everyone. You can even edit the host file on a linux server.

    --
    RTFG - Read The F#$%ing Google!