In-game advertising has never materialized into the multi-billion dollar industry it was once promised to be. Typically, gamers who pay $60 for a new game or pay a subscription fee aren’t keen to be barraged with tons of ads.
“When gamers see in-game advertising, they know that it is a source of revenue for the people that have already sold them a product and in general it has been received poorly by most players exposed to it,” says Richard Lewis, of Heaven Media. “This is especially true of those playing subscription games. They see themselves as paying for a premium service and the expectation is that they should be allowed to enjoy their game without interruption.”
“There were so many more possibilities than just simply having ‘in-game’ billboards or scrolling adverts, that were never really explored,” he added. “Creative minds had talked about in-game storylines where the prizes would relate to real products or character cross-overs involving those from corporate brands. None of this materialized and the advertising in-game was generally as mundane as it is in real life.”
While the opportunity is squandered, Jack Wallington, head of industry programming at the Internet Advertising Bureau, does not think it has been lost forever. “I think advertisers are significantly underusing in-game advertising in all its forms,” he says. “I think there’s still an issue with the perception of who is playing games. The advertisers I talk to think it’s still a niche audience. They understand that it’s a good way of reaching the young male demographic. But we know that 20.1 million people play games on consoles and that’s a huge chunk of the U.K. population.”
Source: The Independent
