In-game ads made headlines last year when President Obama advertised his presidential campaign in Burnout Paradise. While driving along the street, you could see billboards adorned with Obama’s face.
With print, TV, and Internet advertising suffering from lower rates and fewer sales, one might think that ads in video games would decline as well. According to financial analysts at Citigroup, however, there’s a good chance this will not be the case.
A GameStop ad in the new open-world action game, Prototype
Speaking to Gamasutra, Citigroup has found many that “advertisers’ appetite for in-game marketing appears to be increasing.” The current market for in-game ads is $600 million USD, and Citigroup believes that that market might increase to $1 billion within the next five years.
The price to make games increases, but the price of retail games generally remain stagnant. For this reason, game companies are highly enticed by using ads in their games. Many gamers, on the other hand, dislike real world ads intruding on their gaming experience. Regardless of what we think, business is business and advertisers and game developers need solutions. It doesn’t look like game ads are disappearing anytime soon.