In-Game Ads Becoming Necessary?

All right, so hopefully that got your attention. New article out at GameDaily.com of interest to all MMOG players. It's an interview with Massive Inc., an in-game ad company. Currently real ads are featured in Matrix Online and Anarchy Online. They have a place there though as billboard ads in game, could this soon be coming to fantasy genre's such as Guild Wars, World of Warcraft, Everquest?

A direct quote from the article:

"It varies game-to-game... but in-game ads can increase publisher revenue an additional 20-30% above the amount generated by the title's retail sales," Nicholas Longano, CMO of Massive Inc."

That's an extremely big chunk of change there. Quite a temptation for publishers. Also this quote:

"It is simply impossible to offset a 50% rise in development costs via retail sales. It just can't be done," Longano said. "Publishers are going to HAVE to have a secondary revenue source. It varies game-to-game depending on the specific ad implementation, but in-game ads can increase publisher revenue an additional 20-30% above the amount generated by the title's retail sales."

Are publishers and developers, specifically Guild Wars, going to 'have' to add this source of income to their bottom line in the future?

You can read the article here:
http://biz.gamedaily.com/features.asp?article_id=11169

staring at that "varies game-to-game" really hard. if all games did this you would just have to swallow the pill. as it is now you might not even buy that game b/c of the ads. i think placement of the ad is key to if it hurts the game.

ads while i'm in a mission (causing more lag) i'd quit immediately. ads inside towns on a small banner i could probly deal with as these places are really like chat rooms.

Hahaha.

"Now buy your FoW armor AND GET A FREE BOX OF COCA COLA FOR FREE!"

I hope not, that'll ruin alot in games. Though: Games with monthly fees will never support these. Though, this is tempting for games without monthly fees, I hope that GW won't get any of this crap, though it wouldn't change that much of the game beside the people that like to whine, whine about it..

It would seem a bit... out of place to have a giant Pepsi billboard in a place like the Ember Light Camp

I think it'd be impractical.. not impossible, however. Whatever nets the most money for game developers or companies related will definitely be considered. I just hope that they have the common sense not to make it to an absurd extent

lol I'd like to see some sneekers in GW though, sponsored by Nike!

I sure haven't heard of any in-game advertising being planned for Guild Wars. It sort of makes me smile. Instead of the Rawhide Boots, we'll have Nike Boots of Swiftness or Reebok Sneakers of Stealth.

There are games in which advertising is less intrusive than others. For instance, a billboard in a modern-day game wouldn't be out of place. A billboard in Pre-Searing Ascalon would be just a tad, err... "intrusive," shall we say? It's just not going to happen.

I dunno, I thought ordering a pizza directly on the logon screen or ingame, whatever (EQ2, I think?) was a pretty spiffy idea. But don't most games have video card logos on the splash screens... isn't that a form of advertising?

Maybe a banner at the bottom of the log in screen, like in Battlenet for starcraft. Mmm...yeah, unlike Need for Speed or Tony Hawk, and other games set in modern day, I don't think that a Nike, or Quicksilver, or a Nismo ad would work very well in GW. That'd just be funny.

WTS microsoft's vampiric axe of trollslaying!!!!

Or maybe an ad that tells you to buy Direct Song battle packs at the annoucement screen during login.






Wait a minute.

Yeah and let's not forget the in-game Guild Wars ads for the Strategy Guide either.

About 2-3 months ago I was playing planetside, and they implemented ingame ADs. Was absolutely horrible. Ads everywhere. Fanta, Prison Break (that show that came on Fox or somthing), Family guy DVD Ad, You drink - You Drive - You Lose! Ads.. Everyone complained about it, because they were EVERYWHERE.

I could see ads like that done reasonably in a game like CoH, but not in GW.

Just be glad about that. And hope it we will never see a McDonalds sign marring the landscape of a fantasy game. But who knows.... maybe in 50 years people will have pepsi-adds popping up when reading Henry James too...

Some day we can buy cola or pepsi from merchant, who is from Walmart or buy Nike and Adidas boots from armor crafter.
And on the way doing mission, a hard and long mission, there are some McDonald restaurants. For each Big Mäc or Big Tasty you bought, your health increase 100 . Chaotic

When planetside intruduced new loading screens in order to show adds, I canceled my account right then and there.
Why the hell would I pay to be advertised too ?? the games are not going to be cheaper or better because there are adds in them, planetside sure as hell didnt get cheaper when they introduced their add splash screens, and Im sure AO didnt get cheaper either.
And forget about immersion, that age old concept of being there as you read the book or play the game, just imagine Aragorn yelling "For king Theoden .... and McDonalds" ....blah.

AO adds are only mandatory in the free accounts which is a good way to get introduced into the game.

I think my Necro would dig a quarter pounder with cheese.

Well, elementalist "armor" from Victoria's Secret would'nt be out of place.

ads on the login screen would be sort of acceptable - placing them in a fantasy setting though would look stupid