In-game advertising is worth $1+ billion a year – is PS4′s future commercial?

OPM: Advertising is everywhere – and games are no exception. Some have enough product placement to make James Bond blush. But how do they get there? Which games are the worst offenders? Can they sometimes make a game more true to life? And what happens when it all goes wrong?

[sincitysir1]

As long as it's not all up in ur face and doesn't break immersion idc. Like a rusty billboard sign is ok as long as it's within context. Don't wanna be playing uncharted and see an ad for the church of Christ. U get my point.

[EasilyTheBest]

Microsoft has been criticised hugely on N4G about adverts on the dashboard even tho it never bothered me one bit.
I hope Sony is going to get the exact same bashing, or is this going to turn into, its now perfectly fine too pay for online.

[Minato-Namikaze]

The ps store has ads, and I think there is maybe some in the what's new section. But it's not constantly in our face also, But those ps+ games.........

[sincitysir1]

I think this has more to do with actual in game ads and not dashboard ads but ur definitely right. Ps boys and x boys are unfortunately a split group. One day somesthings wrong with group a and then it's ok for group b. cycles man. Cucles

[harrisk954]

@EasilyTheBest

I really wish people would read and try to understand something BEFORE commenting. This is not a Sony v. MS article. It is about IN-GAME advertising. Meaning, a billboard in a game having a product, or in sports games having realistic ads on the walls, or someone drinking a Coke in a game instead of a "Nuka-Cola". The MS advertising on the dashboard is COMPLETELY different. Sony does not advertise on its XMB and, although it could change with the PS4, I don't expect it to based upon what we have seen so far. The biggest gripe that most have with the 360 advertising is that you are PAYING MS $60 a year (give or take) and you still have to look at ads. So, your entire comment and premise behind it is misguided, wrong and does nothing to "ad" to the conversation!

(See what I did there with the word "ad" instead of add?) :)

EDIT: @Minato-Namikaze. Yes, the PS Store has some limited ads (like one or two a month) that are of the promotional type and are related to upcoming or released games. Totally different and not on the XMB.

[SnakeCQC]

sony isn't ms

[abzdine]

i played Uncharted 3 multiplayer and i noticed that while the game is finding players an ad showed up.
if they're integrated the same way during loading screens or something no problem. JUST NOT LIKE THE DAMN YOUTUBE ADS PLEASE!!!

[solidboss07]

But that is the point. Sony have no choice if they wish to be competitive. Microshit charged for online, so Sony have to do it. Same with this type of advertising
At least Sony are still offering a decently priced console. I am not happy about charging for online or being bombarded with intrusive ads, but it is what it is.

[EasilyTheBest]

Back @ Harris.
I don't understand why there shouldn't be ads just because you pay for Xbox Live £30 a year. Sky Tv cost up to £80 a month and there's still never ending adverts.
The companies are there to make money so I'm ok with it. The 360 ads on the dashboard don't ever play sound unless you hover over them or play them, i think they are done in a sensible way.
Sony will be putting ads in game, my take on that is if Microsoft was first to announce and do this exact thing this thread on N4G would reach a 1000 degrees in minutes and Microsoft would take a insane amount of bashing.
Just think about it...

[ravinash]

I don't mind if it's an ad on the dashboard or if it's in the game if it does not break the immersion. Done right it might even add to the game.

I would just hate it if it was a video that keeps playing over and over the same thing each time your trying to load something.

I used to go to GameTrailers a lot, but since they started showing those video ads at the start of each clip, I can't take more than two clips. Especially if it's the same ad.

Still picture with no sound, fine….moving video with sound…NO!

[Activemessiah]

If there's adverts then make them game related and not food/drink... people are fat enough as it is.

[TheEnigma313]

No one is forcing you or any of us to eat or drink their products.

[Activemessiah]

I wasn't talking about me... there are very gullible people who think they have to.

[TheEnigma313]

As long as it doesn't interfere with the gameplay I don't mind; business is business. I'm happy that rumor about stopping games to show commercials weren't true. Now that would have pissed me off.

[PSN-JeRzYzFyNeSt]

never really bothered me

[iiwii]

it won't work like that, you will get spammed with whatever they can sell ad space to spam you with. The more this gets brought up, the more I'm thinking about cancelling my PS4 order and just buying a new higher end video card for the PC and be done with consoles. As a consumer, it's MY right to not have some spammed in my face that I do not care for or want to see.

[Mr_cheese]

This is a strange topic because really, we shouldn't have to see adverts within games that we have just brought for £40-£50, especially when we are also paying an annual subscription to get those same games online.

IT seems to be the way the world is going though, Product Placement is the new way of advertising. We see it in our TV shows, and films, it was only a matter of time before it hit gaming. But the question is, what do we get from it as the consumer? I suppose that money will be reinvested into new IP's, new software, the next next generation. It has PRO's and it has CON's.

[rainslacker]

The kind of advertising they're talking about is product placement, not unrelated ads. Kind of like movies that have a coke can sitting on the desk of the main character, or something.

Product placement isn't bad so long as it's not done obviously. Some bigger blockbusters go way overboard, but more often than not, you don't really notice those things too much. In other cases, they're even written into the story, which is annoying if you know that it's paid for, because it tends to break the narrative. The TV show Bones has been doing this some.

[Oago]

Don't care, plenty or games already have ads

[mhunterjr]

I think people have been making a bigger deal about ads than they really are... if I'm seeing sprite commercials during loading screens, that would get old, but I have yet to experience an intrusive ad... and I play on xbox.... I mean who doesn't like being informed about deals on games?

[iiwii]

Thats what email is for.

[mhunterjr]

Perhaps, but I seldom check my email, and I always use my console... so I prefer to get it on my console... to each his own I guess...

[specialguest]

Free to Play games = expect ads

Full priced games = hell no! Should not even matter if it's done in a tasteful way

[rainslacker]

If it's something like say a racing or sports game, where they have the ads up everywhere anyways, then sure, why not. If you're playing GTA and billboards have some ads on them, sure why not, so long as there is variety to them, and you aren't forced to look at them. Hopefully they get swapped up once in a while to keep it fresh, but product placement isn't a terrible thing, and it can help finance games.

Distasteful would be where they blatantly are pushing the product into your face, even though it likely has nothing to do with the narrative. Tastefully is where it is a natural part of the environment. In fact, real world product placement ads can even increase the immersion. Instead of "generic soda", we could have "Coca-Cola". A well known product that we can relate to, can help make it easier to relate to the game world.

Edit:
I'll just leave this here

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[spektical]

I'm fine with advertising when its not in your face and obstructing my content.

I loved the gillet ads in burnout, i forget which one it was. That was not obtrusive and it was kinda cool that it was in game.