So word on these cyber streets is that a new marketing company has successfully tested a platform that brings ads to console games. Yeah, who doesn’t want an ad to pop up while you’re playing Breath of the Wild or Call of Duty! Free to-Play are about to evolve!
According to an Axios:
After months of testing, marketers are finally going to be able to start running video ads within console and PC games.
Why it matters: In-game advertising, a linchpin of mobile gaming, could be very lucrative for console and PC developers. But studios have been hesitant to adopt them, fearing that a clunky ad experience would mess with user engagement.
Driving the news: A first-of-its-kind in-game advertising platform called playerWON launches this week, allowing big-name marketers that are used to running splashy TV ads the ability to target younger demographics with similar types of spots that will run in video games.
- The platform, which is owned and operated by Simulmedia, a TV ad tech company, will let users determine whether they want to watch a 15 or 30-second video ad in exchange for being able to unlock exclusive gaming perks.
- Simulmedia has struck deals with some of the world’s biggest gaming studios, including Electronic Arts (EA) and Tencent’s Hi-Rez Studios, its EVP, Gaming and OTT Dave Madden told Axios.
The big picture: Marketers need a way to reach younger gaming audiences ages 18-34 that are mostly cord-cutters. In-game ads are cheaper and more efficient than brand integrations, which is what advertisers have working with to-date.
There’s more detail in the original blog but you get the picture. The whole point of this is that Free-To-Play games are not making them enough money so it’s time to harvest. Honestly, if it is happening in-between games, I wouldn’t be mad, but of course, I can’t say other gamers will feel the same way. I say this because, it will start with the free-to-play to ease players into the idea, and before you know it, your full-priced game has ads. Talk about taking away the premium feel. With games now costing a whopping $70-$80, and there being microtransaction to add, adding an ad here and there won’t sit well with some people and there’s bound to be a backlash if the ads are intrusive to the experience. Especially if the ad cuts in and ads 15-30 seconds wait time that you couldn’t skip.
Then there’s concern of the data that’s been collected and how responsible they’ll be with it. Let me know what you guys think of this!
