Games as infomercials: EA plans advertising ‘directly in the gameplay’
Electronic Arts has unveiled a new platform that integrates personalized advertising directly into video game gameplay. While the publisher speaks of “added value” for players, gamers fear disruptive interruptions.
Advertising directly in the virtual stadium
On streaming portals, it has now become normal for users to pay a subscription fee and still see advertising. The prices continue to rise. Advertising is also an effective means of generating income in the gaming industry. So far, however, this practice has mainly been used for free mobile games. But now that Xbox is already publicly considering an ad-financed Game Pass subscription, gamers will soon also encounter advertising in full-price titles. Electronic Arts has introduced EA Advertising, a new platform that aims to integrate personalized advertising “directly into the gameplay” of video games. The company plans to integrate brand messages in real time into titles such as EA Sports FC and Madden NFL. The project aims to open up the over 120 million monthly active players for external advertising campaigns in order to generate even more sources of income in addition to formats such as Ultimate Team.
In order to technically optimize the display, the group uses an ad server and a software development kit. The tools are intended to be deeply integrated into the Frostbite engine. This allows you to collect player data and create targeted campaigns. The system also measures the visibility of ads according to common industry standards to enable advertisers to accurately evaluate their investments.
Focus on big brand partnerships
Like EA in its Press release writes, the program aims to offer players “added value” without disrupting the experience. The first partners include companies such as Visa, Red Bull and Mountain Dew. The ads should appear on digital boards, classic scoreboards or as sponsored challenges in which users can unlock virtual rewards. The implementation sometimes goes far beyond simple posters. The beverage manufacturer Mountain Dew has already integrated a completely playable team, including a virtual stadium and its own mascot, into the title College Football 26. According to the publisher, such profound collaborations are intended to underline the authenticity of the virtual sports worlds, since sponsorship is also omnipresent in real sports events.
Advertising despite the high purchase price
The project still arouses skepticism among users, as the publisher has failed several times with similar concepts in the past. Back in 2008, static billboards in the racing game Burnout Paradise caused discontent in the community. Another incident occurred in 2020 in the martial arts title UFC 4, when full-screen advertisements appeared in the middle of matches and were quickly removed following protests. The general monetization strategy remains a central point of criticism. Current video games often cost around 60 euros, but buyers are now confronted with additional advertising messages. According to announcements, there are no plans to reduce the purchase prices due to the new income. Industry representatives such as Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick recently described advertising in full-price titles as unfair to consumers. EA obviously sees things differently.
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