Massive Builds Video And Audio In-Game Ads

I Am AliveMassive is working on technology to make video-game play more realistic. The Microsoft subsidiary has inked a deal with at least one publisher that plans to place video and audio ads in billboards that could promote theatrical movie releases, and daily specials at fast food restaurants.

Technology advancements that bring in moving pictures and sound in billboards and allow a quick swap of one ad for another have been years in the making. Although Massive turned four years old Monday, it also marks the anniversary of their first dynamic ad sold in a video game.

Paris-based Ubisoft had been the first company to purchase ads from Massive and insert them in a video game. The company also will be the first to test drive video and audio ads in its forthcoming release "I Am Alive," according to Andy Swanson, Ubisoft's senior director, strategic sales and partnership.

The game "I Am Alive," announced mid-2009, for release this year, takes place in modern-day Chicago. "In the near future, we will see streaming video and audio files and animated ads, too," he said. "The technology has managed to let advertisers and brands tinker with more creative solutions."

It's not uncommon for a title series today to support more than $1 million in dynamic advertising, Swanson said. Imagine a disaster scenario where damaged video billboards or street signs explode, crack or fizzle out and make noises. Technology, through Massive, will give video game enthusiasts this experience.

Ubisoft launched four major games last year that integrates technology from Massive including "Rainbow Six Vegas 2," "Shaun White Snowboarding," "Tom Clancy's EndWar" and "Far Cry 2."

It's safe to assume some video games will never integrate ads, Swanson said. "If I'm in a game set in outer space, a galaxy far-far away, the main character won't drink a Mountain Dew," he said.

Since that first ad four years ago, Massive has supported more than 1,000 campaigns, 350 advertisers and 1.5 billion impressions across the industry, according to JJ Richards, GM at Massive, New York. The biggest struggle in getting the company off the ground has been "defining the company to others, evangelizing the business and getting people to know and understand" in-game ads, he said.

Massive has learned other ways to get ads in front of gamers in addition to placing them in natural settings within games. It tapped parent company Microsoft to create behavioral targeting technology, reaching gamers between sessions, online chats with friends, and when they enter MSN or Hotmail.

As with any major media, Massive invests heavily in research to determine the effectiveness of its ad network. Across more than 65 research studies, the company found that on average, those exposed to in-game ads rated the brand 31% higher than those who were not. About 23% more gamers would consider the brand after seeing the in-game ads, while 21% more gamers would recommend the brand to others.

Massive's research also suggests that 60% of gamers recall ads for brands in games. More than half agree that in-game ads improve their experience by adding realism.

Last year, Massive inked multiyear partnerships with Activision, Blizzard Entertainment, THQ and Electronic Arts to provide dynamic in-game advertising that reaches nearly 30 million gamers through Xbox consoles and PC platforms.

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