Big news from SCEE and SCEA on dynamic in-game advertising. Read on for the official press release.
Advertising Partnership Introduces PS3 as a Dynamic In-Game Ad Platform
FOSTER CITY, Calif. & LONDON, June 4, 2008 – Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) today announced the introduction of dynamic in-game advertising on PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3). Marketers interested in placing advertisements in games for PS3 or publishers with available in-game space for advertisements are able to engage through advertisement distribution partners, with IGA Worldwide selected as PS3’s first partner. This partnership will serve to bolster the already rapidly growing worldwide in-game advertising industry, which is expected to grow 1,150 percent to $971.3 million between 2006 and 2011 according to the Yankee Group.
“The PS3 platform is primed to leverage the high growth potential of the in-game advertising market,” said Phil Rosenberg, Senior Vice President, SCEA. “Ads that are organic to the environment not only benefit developers and advertisers, but also create a richer experience for gamers.”
“PLAYSTATION 3 is undoubtedly the prime opportunity for the in-game advertising industry,” said Justin Townsend, CEO, IGA Worldwide. “Through this partnership with Sony Computer Entertainment, IGA can provide advertisers with a large and valuable global user base of 16-35 year old consumers with disposable income. With our standardized awareness-building advertising formats being delivered directly into people’s living rooms while they play, there are great opportunities for advertisers looking to engage through an entertainment medium outside of the traditional TV spot.”
PS3 provides advertisers with a direct avenue to reach the highly targeted, sought after gaming demographic, and has sold more than 12.5M units worldwide. DFC Intelligence forecasts that sales for the current generation of game systems will pass the 180 million mark by 2011, therefore, reiterating the potential for the in-game advertising market
YA BABY!
Comment by dude — Jun 4, 2008 @ 12:20 pm
This is not something you want to proudly announce to the gaming public, SONY.
Comment by Kamiboy — Jun 4, 2008 @ 12:45 pm
This Silent Hill loading screen is sponsored by Pampers.
in game advertising is BAD! boooo sony
Comment by Paul — Jun 4, 2008 @ 12:47 pm
As long as developers get to choose inclusion, it’s not the end of the world - more money in the games industry is good, softly softly though eh?
Comment by Mr Jimmy — Jun 4, 2008 @ 12:51 pm
If we have to get in game advertising when we play a game we want then I expect that we get a huge discount on the purchase price? Hmmm…Thought not.
There should be a label on the game to state that dynamic in game advertising is being used. Much like age ratings.
Comment by Ian — Jun 4, 2008 @ 12:52 pm
So we pay for a game, and then get forced to see adverts within it? I don’t understand why Sony seems to be proudly announcing this, what do we actually gain from it? I can’t imagine we’ll get any form of discount on anything, since I assume it’ll be largely the game developers who get the payment for putting in adverts, who won’t give us any form of discount
Comment by Tom — Jun 4, 2008 @ 1:08 pm
In game advertising… Doesn’t bother me as long as it isn’t no game related.. Like having an anvert in MGS4 for example would ruin it. Other than that.. cool
Comment by Stef Reeves — Jun 4, 2008 @ 1:11 pm
Unless this leads to a dramatic decrease in the price of games then it’s bad news for us consumers.
Comment by reakt — Jun 4, 2008 @ 1:15 pm
really, who cares?
this is not bad for consumers,
its not bad for the industry, its just another way of sony/publishers to make more money.
why does anyone think this is bad? have you not seen adverts before. i think that having adverts that apeal to me is certainly not a negative to me, i just choose to ignore them if i want.
Comment by paul smith — Jun 4, 2008 @ 1:46 pm
It won’t lead to a decrease in the price of games, but it may result in the lack of a significant increase.
As gamers, we have to be realistic. We demand better and better games, and those cost multi-millions to develop - last I heard, Killzone 2 had cost $11 million, and that was over a year ago, so I hate to think what the total currently stands at.
But the minute there’s an increase in the price, everyone starts shouting that they’re being ripped off. Someone has to fund these games, and if we the gamers are not willing to pay £79.99 per title, then the money has to come from elsewhere. In-game advertising is an unfortunate but logical step.
I object to advertising that’s rammed down your throat, and wouldn’t like to see things like “Sponsored by Ford” splashed over every menu and loading screen. But if it appears in games as - for example - advertising hoardings, then I don’t mind. Something like GTA would, I feel, benefit from having real adverts dotted around Liberty City. Sure, the current ads are fun, but it the whole city would seem that much more real if you had adverts for Coke instead of e-Cola.
Comment by Paranoimia — Jun 4, 2008 @ 2:04 pm
Grid is plastered with corperate logos and sponsors - and in fact you have to now manage the sponsors for you team. It’s a sign of the times and ironically brought on ourselves playing games and not watching crap TV punctuated by blatant advertising lies. Either way, I’ll buy what I want to buy and no life-style guru will be extracting money from wallet. So there.
In other news, The Getaway & 8 Days have been canned.
This Posting was sponsored by Tampax - the refreshing way to menstruate.
Comment by BlueGene — Jun 4, 2008 @ 2:04 pm
no gta would be ruined if it had real life adverts
Comment by tuna — Jun 4, 2008 @ 2:27 pm
Whether GTA would ’suffer’ with real ads is debatable, since they have historically been part of the humour of the game. But GTA is a prime example of the type of game that will potentially be targeted for this service. it’s just up to Rockstar whether or not they want to take advantage of it.
But people complaining about this should keep in mind that games have had adverts in them for a long time. Burnout has Gillette vans… Gran Turismo, GRiD, CMR, FIFA, PES, Madden… all games that have had real adverts in them for many years. None have suffered as a direct result of the adverts, and no-one ever complained about them. Why? Because it adds to the realism.
As I said previously, as long as “Sponsored by…” doesn’t appear on every menu and loading screen, this is a perfectly workable system.
Comment by Paranoimia — Jun 4, 2008 @ 2:38 pm
Silent Hill SHOULD! be sponsored by Pampers
Match made in heaven…
Comment by JohnSketch — Jun 4, 2008 @ 2:55 pm
I really do not see the problem with in game advertising, if anything it just makes games more realistic - in real life we see adverts all the time and if adverts were to be shown during loading screens, well its better than staring at a blank background with a spinning disc and the words “saving: do not turn off the system”
Comment by billsmugs — Jun 4, 2008 @ 2:57 pm
HORRIBLE NEWS, I dont want to boot up my console then have to sit though 2 minuites of adverts before I can play a game then be forced to watch another ad between loading of levels and then be forced to pay for the band width of the ads.
The reason I game is because I dotn like advertsiments
Comment by carl — Jun 4, 2008 @ 3:14 pm
@ carl - I think you have completely the wrong idea about how this is going to work.
Comment by Paranoimia — Jun 4, 2008 @ 3:32 pm
YOU HAVE BEEN ASSIMILATED!!!
There is now no escape from the relentless onslaught of consumerist,capitalist, corporate pig-dogs.
Do you know that is why all TV is going digital?
It is much easier for them to synchronise the adverts and so make them unavoidable.
This is immoral and irresponsible and Sony should be ashamed of themselves for being involved in this brainwashing excerise, not announceing it proudly from the top of the steeple.
Completely morally dubious to say the least.
I may put up with it if all PSN Store games, downloads and micro-transactions become fee of charge.
Until that day, FOR SHAME SONY and stick it right up your arsehole.
Comment by Ton Capone — Jun 4, 2008 @ 3:41 pm
Also amazingly when money is involved it’s the first time we get something (something which is bad, but something nonetheless) at the same time as the great satan which is the USA.
Comment by Ton Capone — Jun 4, 2008 @ 3:44 pm
Jeez, over-react much?
Comment by Paranoimia — Jun 4, 2008 @ 3:50 pm
@ 20
Bury your head in the sand and pretend it’s not happening much?
As long as they keep you overfed, diverted from reality and stupid then it’s all good.
Comment by Ton Capone — Jun 4, 2008 @ 4:03 pm
@ 21 - You’re using a personal computer (a product of capitalism/consumerism) on the internet (a product of capitalism/consumerism) to talk about a games console (a product of consumerism) which you presumably own - and yet you want to attack capitalism and consumerism?
Try a few years living in Afghanistan or similar, without your luxuries, and then tell me just how bad capitalism and consumerism are.
Comment by Paranoimia — Jun 4, 2008 @ 4:28 pm
Oh Ton… your cutting edge ironic posts nearly get me every time
can’t wait for your next post!
Comment by lxd — Jun 4, 2008 @ 4:36 pm
@ 22
Of course I use these things. I have no choice but to live in the into which I was born.
Besides how am I supposed to research and get to know my enemy without first emersing myself in that way of life.
Know your enemy Paranoimia, I implore you.
Comment by Ton Capone — Jun 4, 2008 @ 5:30 pm
This is not good.
I hate advertisements, especially in videogames.
If I pay 60-70€ I don’t want to look at advertisements. No thanks.
Leave me the hell alone with this in-game advertisements.
Comment by D4rkW4rr10r — Jun 4, 2008 @ 7:50 pm
I trust these ads will be opt-in for those who pay the full price of the game.
Comment by TheRealDeal — Jun 4, 2008 @ 10:20 pm
The only place where Stabucks, McDonalds and those awful morning insurance claim adverts couldn’t reach you…and now it’s ruined, thanks to Sony!
Don’t see ThreeSpeech taking a poll on this one, because I think they (and Sony) know the results already.
Oh well, gaming was good while it lasted.
Comment by Zed Zee — Jun 4, 2008 @ 11:33 pm
I ask ThreeSpeech/Sony this:
Do you realise that adverts of an adult nature will now be seen by children and under-age teens?
Some of these ads could potentially carry scenes/footage that may make GTA look like a saint!
What moral standards are being applied to this offering?
Who’s policing this offering and setting standards?
Is there a consumer watchdog?
Comment by Zed Zee — Jun 4, 2008 @ 11:42 pm
not to found of the in game ads ether BUT its been around for along time. just check a fifa or NHL game or any licensed racing game like F1 games ads all over the place ppl.. its nothing new.. its the same sh*t in a new suit.
Comment by mikkelito — Jun 4, 2008 @ 11:55 pm
@ Paranoimia (22):
Ton Capone is right. You are talking utter rubbish and saying the same analogous crap as someone else that might say ‘well, all religion is bad, because all it ever causes is wars’.
You have a very naive and shallow perspective - your point holds no basis for any debate at all. It’s mere reflection of something that, upon closer examination, looks vaguely like nothing.
Comment by Zed Zee — Jun 4, 2008 @ 11:57 pm
and btw ads is every where and ppl pay alot of cash to be walking advert pillars. just check out your cloths cars etc they have there brand name all over the place just so other pll can see it and think “damn that looks nice i think i go and get one of those to” and if/when they do you just pay lots of cash to do free advert for that company.. so this isnt acualy any worse that whats alrdy out there.
Comment by mikkelito — Jun 5, 2008 @ 12:00 am
@ mikkelito:
What was a marginal allowance on some American-audience games and sports that already have a huge amount of advertising in them, is now going to be turned into an open season for ALL games, of ALL genres, for ALL age groups to be targeted indiscriminately by advertisers.
Can you imagine Lara Croft running away from some tiger in the jungle and passing an advert for Coke along the way?!
And what’s stopping them from forcing gamers to press the X one further time (while the advert is showing), before they can progress between levels?
Or how about games that are tied in with an advert that you have to sign up for first (by registering your details with the advertiser), before you can download or progress or get an extra clue/new clothing for your character?
This, just like the utter crap on television these days, will lead to NOTHING good. Except for Sony, of course, who I’m sure are seeing $$$ signs already!
Comment by Zed Zee — Jun 5, 2008 @ 12:06 am
well seing a coke ad in the djugle wount suprise me at all they are putting ads all over the damn place!!!
and lots of games alrdy has ads but most players just dont notice them. moslty becuse the game is fast pace and you dotn pay atention to the backgrounds all that much.
and if you wanna be harsh you could say that games like GH3 are nothing but a big ad for music and artists
( and yes i know its not becuse they pay to use the music not the otherway around)
and EA alrdy has a function like this in some of there games and so far i dont think any one realy noticed. becuse it will mostly be like irl ads on the side of the road or in a window of a house (atleast i hope) and it prob wount show ads on acounts reged on ppl under 18/21 or what ever the law says in that region. atleast it will on XBL
Comment by mikkelito — Jun 5, 2008 @ 12:13 am
Seeing a Coke billboard in MGS4 or GTA would be alright, you probably wouldn’t notice it. As long as the loading screens dont have ads on them, it aint much of a problem.
Comment by Kaylarse — Jun 5, 2008 @ 1:27 am
@ 32 What on earth are you on about? The people who make games still care about the experience they provide for the player, sony isn’t going to force them to put in adverts.
And the big companies who run the programming studios still know that if they were to put too many adverts or anything in games then people just wouldnt buy the game, simple as.
And I have no idea what you are on about saying “Do you realise that adverts of an adult nature will now be seen by children and under-age teens?” The age content will still be enforced on adverts so only ones appropriate to the game will be allowed.
Comment by Tom — Jun 5, 2008 @ 7:17 am
just found myself wondering if the ad server went down, would it halt the game loading.. like webpages do sometimes. or what if you disconnected from the net so they couldn’t load in.
just a small point i know.
also, ad’s have been around in game for decades.
but ‘dynamic’ imagine using a first person shooter, and then getting an advert pop-in on an in-game tv/monitor or something advertising that gun on special offer at walmart.
Comment by mobiletone — Jun 5, 2008 @ 7:48 am
How much did Wipeout HD cost to make and where is it?
Comment by cenTripEtAl — Jun 5, 2008 @ 8:29 am
@37 [cenTripEtAl] - Re: “WipEout HD”..
According to (the UK gaming magazine) “PlayStation 3 Magazine” in December 2007 it was “Out Now”.
This next-generation, well, almost last-generation now, title (albeit just a tarted-up 1080p version of the tracks available in “Wipeout Pure” & “Wipeout Pulse”) is pretty quick at 60 frames per second.
Blink & you’ll missed it!
—
On the subject of in-game advertising, the PlayStation Network title “Pain” is already advertising other titles (e.g. “Buzz!”) on billboards during gameplay.
Does anybody have a problem with that?
Also, if it is just ‘SCEA’ & ‘SCEE’ who are “announcing the introduction of dynamic in-game advertising”, and this bothers you, just buy your games from the Asian region instead.
BFN,
fp.
Comment by fanpages — Jun 5, 2008 @ 9:17 am
@ 35 Tom,
Don’t you realise that most PS3 magazines already carry adverts for sex chatlines/text messaging services/escorts etc.
Tell me exactly how they relate to PS3 and gaming please (and don’t say it’s relevent because gamers are lonely w*nkers).
This will intrude on gaming as adverts are not made to be ignored and do influence people, that is why it is a multi billion pound industry. Perhaps they have gotten to you too without you realising it, in which case job done.
Comment by Ton Capone — Jun 5, 2008 @ 9:31 am
Also what if you buy a game with no ads in it in good faith and later they download ads into the game as a patch or something.
Comment by Ton Capone — Jun 5, 2008 @ 9:33 am
I am *not* a highly targeted, sought after gaming demographic. Im a human being..
The last time I noticed advertising in a game was Burnout Paradise, and it stuck out a lot because they were the only adverts in the game, and there were far too many gillette vans around. If its subtle, people wont notice it.
Comment by Severn2j — Jun 5, 2008 @ 9:54 am
I think people are creating a storm over nothing here. The western world depends on advertising, and advertisers will advertise using whichever media is popular - when cinema became popular we got trailer ads, when TV became popular we got TV ads, when the internet become popular we go banner ads, now gaming is becoming mainstream we have gaming ads.
It’s unreasonable so suggest we should get games for free because of it, it just helps keep costs down given the massive increase in development costs in recent years. People shouldn’t be saying “Why should I pay £40 for a game with ads”, they should be saying “I’m glad these ads are helping games stay at last gen prices”. You get ads in magazines, on subscription-TV, at the cinema and on the bus, but none of these things are free…
I don’t think Sony or game developers would ever allow an “out of context” ad in their game. I’m all for ads that fit with the environment, if anything it adds to the realism of the game.
I believe MS signed a similar deal months ago and no one was bothered with that. If developers can get an extra revenue stream from MS that they can’t get from Sony it would give extra reason to develop 360 exclusives for one thing. This just levels the playing field.
As far as I can tell the ONLY thing this changes is that places where you saw an ad before will still have an ad, only instead of being hard-coded on the disc, they will be downloaded from the net and will change occasionally.
The software will be used firstly on EA Sports titles and Burnout Paradise and will probably be followed later by Home (which is a perfect advertising platform). Sports stadiums have billboards, it’s part of the stadium, so what’s wrong with virtual stadiums having the same thing?
Who here has played Burnout? Were you appalled when you saw a Gillette truck? Did you gasp at the sight of a Burger King billboard? Would your gaming experience be ruined if the rest of the billboards had other real companies on them, or the Gillette van became a CocaCola van next month?
Look at Race Driver Grid too, that is covered in ads, even the cars are sponsored! But this is what happens in real races so why not in game? Would it bother a manufacturer suddenly changed sponsors?
Comment by Apnomis — Jun 5, 2008 @ 2:08 pm
I have played “Burnout Paradise” for a few hours (mostly in the demo version), but online once with five others, and I can honestly say I never noticed a Gillette Van at all. That’s not to say they weren’t in the game, it just means the fact they were there didn’t register with me.
I was too busy keeping one eye on the road ahead, one on my rear view mirror, and one on the passing scenery & attention to detail. Yes, all three of my eyes were excited by this title.
I use Gillette razor products anyway, but seeing their name plastered across a van I was passing whilst playing a video game wouldn’t make me think “Oh, I must put Gillette on my shopping list… they make realistic vans… I bet their shavers are the best a man can get”. Even if I did use another brand, the fact that Brut makes aftershave that was designed to ‘splash it all over’ doesn’t mean that a splash of advertising makes me want to buy their shower gel product.
I think that there are some very valid points above, certainly regarding ‘in-your-face’ mandatory screens advertising products that you cannot skip, something on the screen to read in order to disguise a lengthy loading procedure, or down to branding in-game objects with Coca-Cola colours in December. Ho Ho Ho.
Video cassette, DVD, and Blu-ray titles have trailers for other movies before the main feature. They are only annoying when you cannot skip them.
Not having to constantly read the same text regarding powering-down your console whilst the hard disc icon is displayed would be a benefit, though.
There were UPS delivery vans in “Midtown Madness” that I played for years on my PC system, but I still use the Royal Mail (as long as the items get signed for).
Sony’s last Virtual Press Office Release did not go into enough detail about where the advertising will be displayed, but they are simply moving with the times & finding alternate revenue streams. If this results in cheaper end-products for the consumer, then this should be applauded. However, if it means that games stop working when links to external marketing servers are broken, then the same consumers are well within their rights to return the product as ‘not fit for purpose’. Sony will probably use the disclaimer that “content may change during online play” to get around this though.
If you have seen the movie “Minority Report” you’ll know how targeted advertising can be a good (or a bad) thing depending on your point of view.
If in-game advertisements were based on the answers to the questionnaire presented during the sign-up to the PlayStation Network, then this is one approach, but slapping details about ranges of cosmetics, for example, or going down the track of showing me details of holidays on the Orient Express, neither of which I have any interest in, would get more than a little tiring after a while if such commercials could not be skipped or do not have an “opt-out” facility.
Branding in-game objects is probably a very good stream of revenue as corporate marketing departments will then begin to bid for inclusion in high-profile titles. It may also mean that more Add-on packs start to be available as downloadable content. If you don’t like the colour-scheme of Snake’s stealth suit in the latest “Metal Gear Solid” title, then don’t worry as Microsoft will probably have an Xbox-branded version you can download for free. We may even see Blu-ray cases with text such as “This title brought to you by…”, or manuals “printed on trees grown in forests exclusively owned by…”. Neither of which should be a worry as long as the price of the game was then half the usual Recommended Retail Price.
From the content available on the PlayStation Store on a weekly-basis, I would seem to be in a minority reporting […oh, never mind…] that I do not wish to constantly change the default theme of my console, but how long will it be before the theme concept is taken to the next stage & you have the equivalent of a virtual desktop with information streamed behind the XrossMediaBar (well, once the RSS Feeds are implemented properly… let’s not get ahead of ourselves too much… the UK will probably have the “DUALSHOCK 3” controllers, “WipEout HD”, and wireless “SingStar” microphones before then).
Integration with the “Qore” magazine may then take-over my console to a point where I cannot actually play an online game because I cannot get any network bandwidth due to excessive background loading of other assets. Still, anything that stops my PS3 console’s Blu-ray drive being used during “Grand Theft Auto IV” & reporting error code “80010514” just after it meets an untimely death (with, or without Niko Bellic’s help) will prolong the life of my console to show me even more products I don’t need.
How long before the XMB icons will be constantly changing advertisements?
How long before my hard drive will be full of clutter from my console’s activity online without my knowledge?
And how long before Sony will be able to see what products I spend time watching in-game, and can then sell my registered e-mail address to other organisations who offer similar products?
Remember Microsoft? They have an operating system called “Windows” that can do the same thing.
Just wait for Nintendo to catch-up and we can all go back to gaming again.
BFN,
fp.
Comment by fanpages — Jun 5, 2008 @ 2:17 pm
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