Post by leunas on Sept 19, 2006 14:30:36 GMT -5
For the past year, we've been hearing horror stories of how advertisements have pestered gamers right smack in the middle of a game, from advertisements popping out in the middle of questing, to product logos plastered all over the environment, to NPCs telling you to buy the expansion pack of the MMORPG you're playing. There have been mixed reactions with this trend, but apparently, this may become a normal sight in games soon enough. After all, it now has a name: "Advergames".
Vancouver developers Threewave Software, best known for their capture the flag gameplay mod for Quake back in 1996, have recently revealed in an interview with Gamasutra that they will be embracing new ways to fund, and distribute games. They also plan to start implementing new development practices, which will center on integrating sponsored advertisements in the content of multiplayer FPS games.
According to Threewave CEO Dan Irish, they are looking for ways to include ads in games without being obtrusive to the player the way that pop-ups are. They are considering providing sponsored content that also supports the brand of the FPS, and instead of just having a brand logo stuck in some brick wall in the game it will actually become a part of the game this time around, such as "Maybe in a Jeep-Chrysler level you ll be able to drive their vehicles. Maybe a Pepsi-branded level where you jump through a Pepsi logo to materialise somewhere else."
Irish notes that by having sponsors, the industry and the developers will definitely benefit from the deals that can be struck with other companies. However, they are also aware of the thin line that they walk and know that if they are not careful with how this issue with ads is handled, there will be a massive backlash from gaming communities everywhere.
And so, the whole thing becomes a balancing act between keeping the sponsors happy, keeping the gamers happy, and keeping the FPS brand happy. Irish has noted that they have recently struck deals with unidentified companies for games that are to be announced, and that the deals included a condition that the FPS game maintains its identity and that the product companies cannot dictate how gameplay will go just for the sake of getting as much exposure for their product as possible.
Though many will wince at the prospect of seeing Coca-Cola logos in their next round of Counterstrike, the benefits that this will do for the gaming industry is undeniable. But one can't help but wonder if this method can also be prone to abuse or perhaps overuse. In the meantime, while this concept is yet to become widely-accepted, developers must tread carefully on the eggshells that they are walking on.
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