XBOX Chief Strategic Officer Matthew Ball has reportedly been saying that he wants more ads in-game. A lot of people are not happy with that, but some people are getting misinformed. First of all, he is only a strategist or someone who plans for these things, as he is not the one implementing. However, that does spark the question: does this mean that it’s bad if more ads are in the games?
What he said
While people are not happy with the general headline, he didn’t mean that we want ads bombarding the player as they are gaming. His key points were that XBOX can offer an ad-supported subscription. That sounds like a good deal, but nothing is sound, and people should just calm down.
How can companies implement ads in video games?
This is a very good topic to discuss, because a lot of players go to gaming to escape stress and reality. It’s not like a TV channel where they rely on ad revenue. Video games just need to be sold. However, there are a lot of methods where popular brands can implement ads in the field of video games without bothering the players.
In-game ad placements
There are some who have the products placed in the actual video game. You have those NBA 2K games which are grounded in reality. That’s why brands like Pizza Hut have their ads in the game. It doesn’t bother any player, and it feels natural. Just like watching a basketball game on TV where there are different brands flashing on.
Another good example (maybe not good) is Final Fantasy XV. This game is not grounded in reality, and it has a popular brand being Nissin Cup Noodles. The products are placed not only in the game, but there’s an actual quest that will allow you to gather ingredients to put into the Nissin Cup Noodles. Ad placements like this may be weird, but some games made it work.
Games that are based on the products
You also have games that are the actual products. One could say that they are the actual ads, which is the game. A lot of these can be bad, and some can be good or interesting. Take a look at the game Pepsiman for the PlayStation 1. It’s a game about Pepsiman, which advertises Pepsi. The amount of Pepsi that you see in the game is more Pepsi you can drink in your lifetime. You also have other games like MC Kids (McDonald’s), Yo! Noid (Domino’s Pizza), and the KFC Dating Simulator (don’t ask about that).
Bad ideas to implement ads on these platforms
The very first one and the one people hate is that it cuts off your gaming experience to push and. While that’s probably never going to happen, if it does, then you better be worried. Another one would have ads flash on the side of the screen of the game. Think about those banner ads, which can be very distracting. Here’s a better idea: just stop putting ads in the game that disrupt or make the experience bad.