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More In-Game Advertising on the Way
jizziknight writes "Wired has an article up detailing the many types of in-game advertisements and product placements on the way to future games. Advertisers and developers might actually be starting to think it through, rather than just slapping the company's name on everything. Adidas Basketball will be sponsoring some unlockable 'features' in Electronic Arts' NBA Live 07 on the Xbox 360 and the PS3 that showcase its new 'It Takes 5IVE' slogan. The features include 5 players with special uniforms and an exclusive arena. In Fight Night Round 3, Burger King is sponsoring an unlockable boxer as well as an avatar of The King that joins your entourage when you win a Burger King-sponsored event. There are also a few details about an ad-supported MMOG by Acclaim, in which sponsors offer to buy items for you when you go shopping in the game. Another interesting tid-bit from the article: A comScore survey showed that 'Thirty-seven percent of heavy gamers (those who play games at least 16 hours a week) agreed that featuring actual products or companies in games make the games feel more realistic. About one-third (27 percent) of medium gamers (those who played less than 11 hours per week) agreed that in-game ads can add to a game's realism.' Of course, we've all seen instances where ads make the game less realistic."
Does this mean that games are going to become free, paid for by advertising? I doubt it. Where is all the extra revenue generated from advertisements going, because it sure isn't going towards lowering game prices, from what I've seen.
MMO's have a huge opportunity here, as they could probably get away with selling you the game at $50 and then giving you the option of paying a monthy fee or playing the game with a ton of ads in it. It'll be interesting, though, to see how they try to seamlessly integrate ads for Nike into a game like WoW.