It seemed like just yesterday that the gaming industry made the announcement that in-game advertising would be the next business to boom while most critics just stood back and scoffed that it would be a while before it happened. Well the future is today.
IGA Worldwide Inc., the leading independent in-game advertising network, has officially announced their partnership with the Burnout series to have its brands featured within EA’s franchise of games. IGA Worldwide’s clients include BURGER KING®, Diesel, Gillette, CompUSA.com, Sling Media, Vizio, JL Audio, a well as others and will be looking to incorporate such advertisements as billboards, retail stores, radio stations and vehicles into the games.
"We are extremely excited to partner with EA as the Burnout series continues to be such a smashing success around the world," said Justin Townsend, CEO of IGA Worldwide. "The in-game advertising market is expected to reach nearly £340m/$670m this year which would indicate marketers, game developers and publishers like EA are fast becoming more convinced of the many branding and financial benefits that advertising within this medium continues to deliver."
IGA Worldwide Inc., has already incorporated many of their other clients, such as 20th Century Fox, Ben Sherman, Discovery, FHM, Hawaiian Airlines, Intel, Jeep, MTV, and T-Mobile, into other games and platforms to give those companies another way to reach out to the consumer. Although some may find this as a detriment to the gaming industry it may actually add a sense of realism to some games such as baseball, as it may now finally feature the Coca-Cola bottle in the stands of the San Francisco Giant’s Ballpark.