Advertising in games is something that has been getting a lot of media attention recently. Some reports say that gamers love it, provided things are in context (ads on billboards in a city for example) and, more recently, they say they don't like it... as mentioned in the report posted on gamesindustry.biz
The audience sampled was only 120 gamers which sounds a little low to me, but the opinion matches those of other gamers I have spoken to about this. My personal opinion is actually the opposite. I am in the "it's ok as long as it fits" crowd... and this is from someone who doesn't like advertising in general.
One thing to note with the reports that people like the ads in game is that the surveys are generally performed by companies who run the ads, so naturally they will only publish things that show their services in a positive light.
Advergames
One of the more blatantly obvious forms of advertisement is the advergame. These are small games, generally run online, that advertise a specific product. At Miniclip (where I work) we occasionally run these adverts for companies wanting to push their latest product. Most recently we have run ads for Superman, Chicken Little, and Pirates of the Caribbean. These games have done incredibly well and are, in my opinion, an excellent way to target the gaming audience.
The idea behind these games is to give people a feeling for the product and make them want to become more involved. In the case of movie ads the games are fairly simple and can be completed fairly quickly with the player being rewarded with some form of promotional media (trailer/ wallpaper etc)
A site that seems to be gaining quite a bit of popularity at the moment is CandyStand. This is a site developed by Wrigleys - the sweet manufacturer. All of the games on the site are totally free, yet feature vast amounts of adverts promoting various sweets from their range. To me this is a bit much but then if the games are free is it right to complain... afterall 95% of Miniclip games are totally free, in return for the ads we run on the site so is this all that different?
Cheapies
It was recently announced that the $4 games sold by Burger King have sold over 2 million copies. People are now paying for adverts (and based on the comments on that page enjoying them too)!
So...
What would you say if the next version of the Sims totally free to download and play. If you could walk into a store and just take the game home? The only catch being that it is full of product placement. Would this be a good thing? Would you like it? Would you still play the game?
I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.
Rocket Boards is a super fast 3D rocket boarding action. My first "commercial" (shareware) product. Didn't do amazingly well but was a good learning experience
Bubble Bomb is a polished update of a game originally built by Warren Marshal (who works at Epic games - developers of Unreal and Gears of War)
My own update of Bubble Bomb, Bubble Blitz was almost a total rewrite adding loads of new features and a shiny new look.
Seths Puzzle Boxes is a puzzle game with a surprisingly enjoyable story line, unfortunately it's quite short so won't take long to complete, but while it lasts is great fun.
7 Responses to “In game ads don’t work?” Leave a reply ›
I'm open to it for free games. As long as they're well placed and used with common sense (they aren't floating in the air every two steps, for example. On a billboard, a wall, is fine) they work with me.
What I do have a problem with is in-game ads for games that aren't free. I've been playing Counter-Strike 1.6 (and bought it, legally, a long, long time ago) for a long time, and they announced recently that Valve was going to be putting in-game ads in.
The first thing that I was put off by was that they weren't offering the game for free with the ads. Secondly, the servers aren't hosted by Valve -- other people spend at least 100 US a month to host dedicated gaming servers, and Valve is going to be making money for no reason. I wouldn't mind it half as much if they hosted the servers.
I've just written an article on this myself at http://blog.tn38.net/...ives/2006/12/advertising_in.html and my fundamental feeling is that it's OK as long as it ties in with the game and ensures the focus and momentum that games have isn't lost.
Another concern, as Shorty mentions, is that there are unlikely to be any subsidies for the consumer so we get the raw end of the deal here.
What's new eh?
I love the idea of free games. However, I played the BK games and they were a far cry from Call of Duty 3, Zelda: Twilight Princess and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. I like the concept though, and I'm in agreement that we'll see it in the future, whether in the form of lower prices or free games altogether.
I followed a link from a blog you designed because I was looking for more of your work, but you blog on the same thing I do on my on gaming blog/vlog. Subscribed
Well, I think they can only work if they provide in-game controls and services. Like the /pizza command in Everquest. Plus, if you are going to implement ads like that, you might want to find providers in other nations as well to work with that.
I'd be more than happy to take home a free Sims game filled with ads...so long as it doesn't interfere with the gameplay (e.g no annoying pop up ads or anything). It is a life simulation anyway. Also, I'm cool with billboard ads in open world games like Crackdown (see my blog
for more of my thoughts)