Webzen, Massive Partner For In-game Ads

In-game ad firm Massive Incorporated has forged a partnership with Webzen, Inc., a Seoul-based entertainment company that is currently producing two multiplayer online games that Massive will insert ads into.

Massive Chief Marketing Officer Nicholas Longano said the deal extends Massive's network into the Asian market and the "massive multiplayer online" or MMO market--both highly lucrative in the gaming world. "We're going to have access to two of the major titles of theirs," he said. "These are MMOs with some great expectations behind them, so it's great to have these Triple-A Korean titles in the network."

Massive's first ad-supported MMO was "Anarchy Online," which was one of the first titles in the network when it launched last year.

The two Webzen MMOs are a first-person shooter, "Huxley," and an action game, "All Points Bulletin." Both are slated for release next year, and Massive will begin serving ads as soon as the games hit players' computers. Until the launch, Longano said, Massive would be working with game developers to integrate their ad-serving technology into the game's code, and see that the ad placements meshed smoothly with the game worlds.

Longano said that although it had not yet been determined which of Massive's advertiser stable would be served into the games, they had several advertisers with global campaigns who had expressed interest.

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