• by May 12, 2004

Yesterday, I mentioned the burgeoning interest among marketers in advertising within videogames--console-based, PC, and online videogames. Desperate to reach elusive 18-34-year-old males, marketers are grasping at a panoply of branded entertainment options, but advertising in videogames is a prime area of interest. The area's also gaining some traction.

Today, there's news that Massive Inc., a games software company, plans to disseminate ads over the Web to PCs and videogame consoles. The ads can be integrated into specific places in videogames, and data on viewer engagement with the ads can be sent back over the Web for analysis.

Massive is sharing its advertising technology today at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. In order to have a broad impact, the technology needs to be included in games by leading software publishers. So far, Ubisoft and Atari have both agreed to use the technology.

Why should media strategists be interested? The appeal of such a system lies in its ability to perform real-time advertising. As online gaming grows, companies like Massive can serve fresh advertising, promotions, and special offers into games at regular intervals. Daypart creation and precise targeting becomes possible. The same can be said for analysis by daypart. Primetime in online gaming might be say, from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Snack brands like Cheetos or Lays might advertise then.

Another aspect of Massive's technology is that once the ads are uploaded, they're stored on the gamer's PC and become available on an offline basis. Massive plans to extend the capability to videogame consoles, many of which offer online access. Massive says it will launch its videogame channel for advertisers in October.

The technology definitely looks interesting. If it works, it would bypass some of the hurdles that software publishers, marketers, and agencies currently face in trying to do in-game advertising such long-lead development times. If enough publishers sign on for the technology and offer up popular titles, it could be a winning formula. But that depends, of course, on how obtrusive the ads are and whether gamers will tolerate them.

Will the ads interfere with the plot lines and action of games? Will they become no more than annoying pop-ups? Will they offer enough data on the back-end? What do all of you think?