In-game advertising company Massive Inc. will broker ads for some of Electronic Arts Inc.'s top video games this year, including the upcoming "Madden NFL 08" for Xbox 360 and personal computers.
Massive, acquired by software maker Microsoft Corp. last year, said Wednesday it would begin serving dynamic ads to five new EA games — "Madden," plus "Nascar 08," "NHL 08" and "Skate" for Microsoft's Xbox 360, and "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08" for Xbox and PCs running Microsoft's Windows operating system.
(MSNBC is a Microsoft - NBC Universal joint venture.)
New York-based Massive sells virtual billboard space to advertisers, then delivers ads over the Internet to PCs and Xbox 360 game consoles.
The company's technology tracks the seconds gamers spend in sight of an ad, then charges marketers for every 10 seconds of exposure. Advertisers can redesign their billboards or stadium ads to match current marketing campaigns in the real world.
The company already delivers ads to two lower-profile EA titles, "Need for Speed Carbon" and "Def Jam Icon."
Marketers around the world spent just $26.1 million on dynamic in-game advertising in 2006, according to estimates from Yankee Group, but the researchers project that figure will rise to $100 million this year and $645 million in 2010.
Cory Van Arsdale, Massive's chief executive, said there is huge interest from marketers looking for ways to reach video games' sweet spot demographic: 18 to 34-year-old males, who, according to JupiterResearch, watch less TV than the average Web-connected American, but make up more than half of console gamers.