What we were missing: EA wants to add ads to its games

If you feel like there are too many ads on Netflix or Prime Video, brace yourself. Electronic Arts announced that it intends to insert advertising into its video games, including those for which you paid 70 euros. The publisher wants to increase its revenue and sees advertising and games as a winning strategy.

In-game advertising was discussed during a call with shareholders to present financial results for the latest quarter. Andrew Wilson, EA’s CEO, said they are reviewing how they will insert advertising into their games. Wilson announced that this measure must be well thought out in the gameplay.

“As far as advertising goes, I think it’s still early days on that front,” the manager said. “But when we think about the billions of hours spent playing, creating, watching and communicating, and how much of that interaction is within the traditional gaming experience, we expect that advertising has the opportunity to become the main driver of growth for us.”

Wilson noted that they “will be very thoughtful” in implementing this plan and confirmed that They’re already experimenting with in-game advertising.. “We now have internal teams within the company looking at how we implement our gaming capabilities,” he said.

EA already includes ads in its games without you even realizing it.

Inserting advertisements into a video game may go unnoticed by those playing on their mobile devices. However, those who play AAA games on consoles or PC believe that This measure is an abuse because full price has already been paid for the game. No one imagines advertising for Coca-Cola or Mercado Libre in the middle of a game. Simsexcept EA.

Believe it or not, the company has experimented with advertising in the past. From the fences Need for speed in the subway 2 or Burger King branches, to Barack Obama’s election ads in Burning out paradise in 2008. In these cases, advertising was integrated as part of the scenario without interrupting the gameplay.

One of the latest examples was the advertisement for the second season of the series. Boys appeared in games UFC 4. EA tried to disguise it as a curtain that activated during combat replays, but players reacted negatively and the company removed it. Unlike previous attempts, this ad interrupted the game.

EA knows that users don’t want intrusive advertising, so it inserts advertising articles into your games without your knowledge. Those special editions of jerseys or sneakers presented in EA FC 24 These are not ideas designed to make you beautiful, but rather part of a campaign carried out by brands.

“We’ve worked with partners like Nike, Pepsi, Uber Eats and Beats over the past year and will continue to do so, integrating them into the gameplay experience and giving them a platform to deeply engage with our global audience. We are also looking to open up new advertising and sponsorship opportunities,” said Andrew Wilson.