If you've been dreading the seemingly inevitable arrival of advertisements for real-world businesses and products within video games like I have, than I've got some bad news for you: Electronic Arts (EA) just took a massive step forward in that department with the creation of EA Advertising, a new division at the publisher.
Announced on Monday morning in a press release, EA Advertising is "a new platform transforming how brands connect with audiences through digital and real-world experiences across its global portfolio of games." So, in other words: in-game ads.
This is completely different from, say, Xbox CSO Matthew Ball's suggestions for ads not in-game that can lead to less expensive tiers of services like Xbox Cloud Gaming. What's being discussed here are ads within gameplay experiences.
EA writes that the Advertising wing is "enabling brands to integrate directly into gameplay through dynamic, real-time placements, from stadium signage to custom in-game content, designed to enhance, not disrupt, the player experience." It's been emphasized that the ads will be interactive in nature, and that brands will "become part of the game itself."
This means rather than seeing ad cards in menus or loading screens, you'll see ads implemented within game worlds or come across brand-sponsored gameplay activities. "With EA Advertising, we’re helping brands become part of those moments in ways that are relevant and built for players," says EA chief experiences officer David Tinson.
Specifically, EA mentions companies can partner with it to implement "in-game challenges, reward-driven objectives, and branded content," along with "curated vanity items" for player customization. They can also pay for "digital ad boards, scoreboards, and brand broadcast overlays" that are "dynamically served within the 3D environment" (think signage on the boards of a hockey rink or walls of a baseball stadium).
There's also EA Advertising's EA Sports Partner Program, which is "a premium ecosystem for a select group of official partners" intended to allow for sponsored live events and integrations with community-made content.
Notably, several brands have already engaged with EA's program across its sports titles, including Visa, Lowe's, Red Bull, Xfinity, Peacock, and Mountain Dew. It's also worth noting that several Red Bull-themed challenges and rewards have come to Battlefield 6; I was hoping these in-game ads would be limited to EA Sports titles, but it seems we're already past that point.
Ultimately, while I am glad that EA and its partners are going about this in a way that tries to make advertisements fit into gameplay experiences seamlessly, I'm still firmly against in-game ads of any kind. I already spend every waking moment of my time online being advertised to as it is, and I want playing my games to be an escape from that.
How do you feel about EA creating an EA Advertising division and starting to push ads in its games? I'm curious to hear from you, so share your thoughts in the comments and in our poll below.
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