Battlefield 2142, Other EA Titles to Have In-Game Ads (Updated)

Electronic Arts today issued two separate press releases, each announcing agreements that will provide in-game advertising for upcoming EA games. Today's first announcement describes an agreement with New York-based in-game advertising firm IGA Worldwide, which will see an unspecified number of EA franchises implement in-game advertising. The first game that will see ads from IGA is Digital Illusions CE's Battlefield 2142, which will be receiving dynamic ads tailored to players' physical locations. Interestingly, the press release also states that ads will be customized by platform, though the game has been announced only for PC, suggesting that the game may eventually be coming to other systems. "Consumers are increasingly gaming in deep, virtual worlds and advertisers need adapted ways to reach these audiences," said European VP for Online and Strategic Relationships Frank Sagnier. "The agreement with IGA is a first step in a detailed strategy to deliver advertising in a seamless format." It was not specified what type of real world brands will be used to seamlessly and realistically integrate modern advertising into the fictional setting of a war-themed game set in 2142. The second announcement is regarding a deal with Massive Incorporated, an in-game advertising firm purchased by Microsoft earlier this year, and allows for up to four Xbox 360 and PC games from EA to be outfitted with in-game ads. EA Black Box's Need for Speed Carbon will be the first title affected by the deal. Though EA notes that the Need for Speed series has included static advertising in past games, Carbon will also include dynamic ads that are related to players' specific geographic locations and gaming platforms. "In places like a basketball court, football stadium or roadside in a racing game, advertising is not only nice to have, but it's an essential component to create the fiction of being there," said EA VP of Online Commerce Chip Lange. "This agreement with Massive allows us to vary what relevant ads are served to the game player." The announcement notes that Massive's technology allows for a variety of media types, including images, audio, video, and actual game objects, to be used in advertising. Financial terms behind the deals announced today were not disclosed. Update: Shacknews has received a response to various inquiries posed to EA regarding these deals. In regards to brands that will be used in Battlefield 2142, EA is not yet announcing specific companies. "We don't have any specific brands [to announce], but as we have said about any kind of ads in the past, they will be authentic and not distracting and in terms of being irrelevant of the time [period]," said an EA representative. "They will be contextually relevant." The company also clarified that the statement about multiple platforms in the Battlefield 2142 announcement is only a general statement about IGA's in-game advertising methods and does not indicate that 2142 will be a multiplatform game.