• ClickZ, Thursday, February 8, 2007 12 PM

It's a sign of online gaming's maturity as an ad medium that publishers and developers are configuring new ways of selling casual gaming audiences to advertisers. MSN Games, one of the biggest gaming destinations on the Web, has begun an ad share program that gives participating developers between 10% and 20% of revenues on existing and future games.

The share percentage depends on the extent to which developers allow ads to be integrated into their games. Level I is a 10% share with few changes. Level II is a 20% share requiring modifications like localization, ratings by the Entertainment Software Rating Board, and the inclusion of a "deluxe" game experience with 10 hours plus of Web-based play. Game play of that length used to be reserved for purchased games only.

Chris Early, studio manager for Microsoft's casual games division, says he believes the rev-share agreement will encourage developers to create richer gaming experiences. James Gwertzman, director of business development at competitor PopCap Games, gave the product a lukewarm reception: "It feels like this proposal was put together by someone with a spreadsheet operating in a vacuum; it simply doesn't take the market realities into account." In other words, the casual gaming market should remain casual. If people want richer gaming experiences, they'll get a PS3 or Xbox 360.

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