Get Ready For Even More In-Game Advertisements, As EA Thinks It's A "Huge Opportunity" For Developers
George is an expert on platformers, action games, and fighters, but tends to play as many releases as possible. This hands-on experience lets him dive into gaming communities and follow the latest trends.
Some of the games George has extensively covered first-hand include Dead Rising, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero, Assassin's Creed Shadows, and Ninja Gaiden 4.
An EA executive has confirmed that the company is really interested in in-game advertisements, and sees them as a “huge opportunity” for developers.
For as long as video games have been around, they’ve been no strangers to product placement and marketing. From Alan Wake pushing Verizon and Death Stranding making you want a Monster Energy to games like Sneak King and Pepsiman that are entirely based around brands, games have always had some forms of advertising.
That doesn’t mean that gamers are fond of it, though, and in-game advertisements remain a touchy subject that some companies seem to be blind to. EA has already made it clear with games like Skate and EA Sports FC that it’s interested in in-game adverts, but it’s now clearer than ever that it sees them as a big part of games going forward.
EA Exec Says Developers Need To Consider In-Game Adverts During Development
They Want Ads To Feel “Native” To Gaming
As pointed out by GamesRadar+, The Game Business recently had the chance to chat with EA’s vice president of advertising and sponsorship, Alexander Dao. Dao talked about EA’s new advertising platform, which he views as a “huge opportunity” for both developers and advertising within PC and console games.
Dao said that studios should plan for adverts during development and aim to retrofit them in as part of “building the advertising experience”. I shudder a bit at the thought of an advertisement ‘experience’, but Dao points to Skate as a perfect example of how brands can be “flexible” and easy to put into the game.
To be fair, I can't disagree too much with that, as skating games have always had a ton of branding and product placement.
The Game Business points out that EA’s new advertising platform is mostly aimed at its sports games, and uses the Frostbite engine to easily allow advertisers to slot ads into specific places, with developers planning for those ahead of time. That’s not all, though, as Dao says that EA is working with third parties to “standardize” in-game advertisements.
Like I said at the start, product placement and advertisements have always been around in gaming and aren’t always a bad thing. The idea of them being planned ahead of time is a little eerie, though, especially with how rampant monetization and pushing extra purchases have become in the past few console generations.
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