Microsoft claims that the in-game advertising it develops with Massive will be carefully screened to maintain the immersiveness of games in which it is used, rather than detracting from gameplay. This purchase is the latest development in a working relationship the two companies have maintained for over a year.

The acquisition of Massive broadens Microsoft's commitment to providing advertisers with a highly effective means of reaching specific demographic groups of consumers in the rapidly growing and interactive medium of online gaming.

"Advertisers are having a tough time connecting with the elusive 18- to 34-year-old male demographic because this group continues to spend less time watching TV and more time playing video games," said Joanne Bradford, corporate vice president of Global Sales and Marketing and chief media revenue officer at Microsoft. "Massive and Microsoft can help lead with our shared vision of delivering more targeted, measurable and effective opportunities for advertisers to reach today's youth audience in a largely untapped market."

Massive has also partnered with many other major game publishers, including Atari, Codemasters, Eidos, Funcom, Legacy Interactive, Majesco, Take-2, Ubisoft, and Vivendi Universal. Most of these publisher also release titles on non-Microsoft platforms. Comapany CEO Mitchell Davis stated that current business relationships will remain in place despite the acquisition.

This announcements comes in close proximity to the opening of adCenter, Microsoft's new service integrating advertising with MSN Search. The program is intended to compete with Google's successful advertising programs. It is unclear if Massive is directly related to adCenter, or if they are both simply part of a larger push from Microsoft to gain a foothold in advertising opportunities across various platforms.