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EA is looking at putting in-game ads in AAA games — 'We'll be very thoughtful as we move into that,' says CEO

IbizaPocholo

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman
www.tomshardware.com

EA is looking at putting in-game ads in AAA games — 'We'll be very thoughtful as we move into that,' says CEO

"Advertising has an opportunity to be a meaningful driver of growth for us."
www.tomshardware.com www.tomshardware.com

EA CEO Andrew Wilson confirmed the company is considering putting ads in traditional AAA games — titles that players purchase up-front for around $70 apiece. In the Q&A part of EA’s latest earnings call, Eric Sheridan from Goldman Sachs asked Wilson about dynamic ad insertion in traditional AAA games. Wilson said, "…Advertising has an opportunity to be a meaningful driver of growth for us." He then continued, "…we have teams internally in the company right now looking at how we do very thoughtful implementations inside of our game experiences."
 
Heisenberg007

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
Basketball Ok GIF by Malcolm France
 
midnightAI

midnightAI

Banned
I think so long as it fits the game and has it styled in the way it fits it would be fine. For example, if they had a Pepsi advert in Cyberpunk (yes, I know that's not EA), and that advert was a futuristic Pepsi video using character models used in the game promoting it then that would be perfectly acceptable (cool even)...... But then, what's the chances that will happen?
 
Futaleufu

Futaleufu

Member
Starbuck2907 said:
They’ve had in game ads for about 20 years at least. Didn’t Burnout Paradise update the in game billboards every few weeks?

Nothing new here. “Advergaming” is the term, I think.
Click to expand...

I remember some Obama billboards in that game, and I'm not american.

I read somewhere that some companies were not happy the game encouraged the player to smash those billboards. I think thats the reason all those Pepsi billboards in Bionic Commando were indestructible.
 
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Mr Reasonable

Mr Reasonable

Completely Unreasonable
midnightAI said:
I think so long as it fits the game and has it styled in the way it fits it would be fine. For example, if they had a Pepsi advert in Cyberpunk (yes, I know that's not EA), and that advert was a futuristic Pepsi video using character models used in the game promoting it then that would be perfectly acceptable (cool even)...... But then, what's the chances that will happen?
Click to expand...

I'd be inclined to agree, but it's a slippery slope I don't think it's unlikely to expect unskippable goal celebrations in FIFA with "sponsored by McDonald's" in two corners of the screen.

There are loads of ways it'd become grating too. Your favorite character repeatedly ordering a Pepsi by name in a diner, etc. Pepsi being the only branding on anything in the game. Pepsi skins in street fighter.

Plus, all the control brands would want - the logo can't be deformed, bent or partially obscured by other textures*. Our brand values preclude x, y and z.

"Ok, scrap the xxxx mission, they're paying a lot"

*Edit: as per Futaleufu Futaleufu 's post above.
 
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Radical_3d

Radical_3d

Member
Starbuck2907 said:
They’ve had in game ads for about 20 years at least. Didn’t Burnout Paradise update the in game billboards every few weeks?

Nothing new here. “Advergaming” is the term, I think.
Click to expand...
And even before. I remember something about a Burger King billboard on a PS2 racing game. As always “as we move into it” means “as we go back to a trend we forgot”. Man… can’t wait until we move into online passes.
VNOUGQEJYZHV5KPE6IYG256TJY.jpg
 
C

crackajack

Member
Not sure where those ads should be shown, but I am not really fundamentally against it in games. Since loading times almost disappeared the perfect time&place for it in every game is gone and really in-game is only suitable for FIFA etc, anything that has anyway ad spaces, also cities or space stations or whatever. As long as it is not jarring, it should not be really bad. If they want to add it right in between anytime then games better become entirely free, and I would actually accept it anywhere in a reasonable ad time/game time ratio. A free Plus/GP/EA Play/GTA+ etc tier, but ads every hour or so. Why not? Spotify is annoying with repetitive always the same ads for days and weeks, youtube annoys with way too often interrupting the content, but those are free at least. Both offer paid options. Wanting to do both though might be too much if not really "very thoughtful".
Ads are imho anyway basically a fraud with all sorts of companies being the losers. It's wasted money for them, and only wasted time for the consumer. A net benefit for no one but the ad companies. Almost as shady as bankers.
 
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Markio128

Markio128

Gold Member
I guess Stellar Blade could have used advertising with the can collection. It wouldn’t be massively intrusive. I could live with it if it helped fund a sequel.
 
Cyberpunkd

Cyberpunkd

Member
Men_in_Boxes said:
The Finals has fake ads all over their maps. Couldn't care less if they get swapped for Coke or Toyota.
Click to expand...
Most of the time you get something for ads displayed -
Cheaper subscription, public broadcaster creating content you do not need to pay, etc. What do you get for seeing ads in EA games you already paid for and which already include multiple microtransactions?
 
Fabieter

Fabieter

Member
Cyberpunkd said:
Most of the time you get something for ads displayed -
Cheaper subscription, public broadcaster creating content you do not need to pay, etc. What do you get for seeing ads in EA games you already paid for and which already include multiple microtransactions?
Click to expand...

Hope that they don't raise the pricing again.
 
Mr Reasonable

Mr Reasonable

Completely Unreasonable
IDKFA said:
Advertising has an opportunity to be a meaningful driver of growth for us

And here is the problem. The chase for constant growth. Surly there is a better system than this without going full hammer and sickle?
Click to expand...

Yeah, private companies. Shareholders make a lot of things possible, but being a private company allows bosses to make decisions based on other factors.

Alas the numbers involved in gamedevelopment make that quite difficult.
 
MrRenegade

MrRenegade

Banned
History repeats itself. And if this gets out of control, well, then they will pull all the reverse engineers on them and who knows, maybe the piracy thing will come back again. Just do the usual let's push the boundaries even further scum eating practice and watch what will happen.

But usually this only works in games that are imprints of the real world (fifa, driving sims, railroad tycoon etc etc), otherwise it just breaks the immersion when an orc boasts about its new nike sneakers :messenger_beaming:.

In game ad blockers to the rescue!
 
Pejo

Pejo

Member
The pitfall of publicly traded companies. Regardless of if they think it's a good idea, they kinda have to try it at least, unless they can prove to their shareholders that it would be a net loss of money. Not that I have any sympathy for EA or tolerance for ads in full price games.
 
RoboFu

RoboFu

One of the green rats
Just do in game billboards and models. That's the best way to do it. Like movies do.
 
Angry_Megalodon

Angry_Megalodon

Member
RCU005 said:
In before EA (or anyone) begins to put ads in games (but like YouTube ads, that interrupt your gameplay). I guess they already exist in mobile, but if they are ever in a console game, I quit gaming immediately.
Click to expand...


Most mobile games quit putting ads, they are a thing of the past. This asshole can't be any more out of touch. EA is another company that urgently needs massive layoffs and shutdowns.
 
poppabk

poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
Games are the one place that we need more advertising. Some of the parody brands are fun, but too many 'burger palace' or 'grocery mart' etc can make your game look lame.
 
Rickyiez

Rickyiez

Member
Love it, we going to have a billboard in Dead space to advertise Battlefield. Such immersion, it's like real life!
 
D

DeltaPolarBear

Member
Here is the reason it has not worked so far other than free to play games...

Adding ads to a game makes a game worse, right? So the only way an ad would make sense, is if the game was so good that a player is willing to tolerate ads, correct?

Here is the hard part; no one has managed to make a good game intentionally. You TRY to make a good game, but success is never certain. And if a game company try to insert ads into a game, while they are making it, they are sabotaging the quality of the game from the start. Thus most of the time the game with ads just die off the bat because no one wants to pay for it.

Free to Play? Plenty of ads there, go ahead, phone gamers are used to it. But trying to put ads in AAA games would be like trying to poison your own dinner. The AAA game already cost so much and you are risking even more failure than you need to? That is suicide.
 
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