• Ad Age, Wednesday, February 27, 2008 11:46 AM

Sony yesterday said it was opening up its in-game advertising platform in an attempt to boost ad spending in video games. The move creates an open, competitive marketplace for third-party ad sellers like Double Fusion, IGA and Google's AdScape to sell ads in games running on Sony's PlayStation 3 video game console.

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Ad network providers like IGA strike deals with third-party publishers like Electronic Arts, Activision and Ubisoft to deliver dynamic ads to run inside their games. Sony and Microsoft both have internal sales forces to sell ads in games they produce in-house. The move to ramp up competition in the video game ad network space is not unlike the greater battle among Internet ad networks.

Analysts like Sony's decision to open up the PS3 marketplace. "Making things open only makes things better for marketers or people who want to place ads because they aren't the mercy of a given network," said James Belcher, a video game writer. Video game advertising is a $400 million business that's expected to grow at a clip of nearly 23 percent for the next five years, according to eMarketer.

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