What could help triple-A games get even bigger right now? According to EA CEO Andrew Wilson, the answer lies in ads.
During a recent earnings call Q&A, Wilson was asked by an analyst about “dynamic ad insertion” in triple-A titles as a means of revenue. While he thinks it’s “still early” for that, he noted its potential as a “meaningful driver of growth” for the publisher.
In fact, internal teams at EA are already exploring “very thoughtful [ad] implentations,” Wilson revealed. For him, the important thing is to build up communities in games, then figure out how ads are potential growth drivers.
Are we just supposed to pretend like they don’t already have ads in their games?
Yeah I remember ads in need for speed, unless they mean, interrupting the game for ads …
In NFS the ads/product placements never changed, I suppose they want non-static ads.
I never even minded the product placement in NFS. It was mostly aftermarket car parts companies. It got weird in NFSU2 when they shoehorned in AT&T Cingular or whatever
That’s what they mean.
If they’re really that stupid, more people will figure out that cracked games don’t have flaws like this.
Infinite growth is a cancer on this planet.
They had dynamic billboards in burnout paradise 16 years ago so this is not a new idea for EA.
If course with modern internet they could steam video ads to TVs that decorate the world, or insert ad breaks for in car radio. So far most games have used parody ads as world building but I suppose they could just use them as a paid ad spot instead.
Product placement usually feels forced, but any urban setting is littered with vending machines and shop fronts so I can see how they are tempted to sell these.
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars did the same thing. It added to the realism because it was “now”. That being said, I don’t want real world advertising in my fantasy world game playing time. World building fake ads? Like frilly toothpicks, I’m for ‘em!
Your comment on forced product placement reminded me of Tonic Trouble, the weird, mostly forgotten Rayman 2 sister-project in late 90s. It was basically Rayman 2 trying to be quirkier and mostly ending up in the “trying too hard” area.
Power-ups in the PC version came as N*stl* chocolate bars for no reason (except a big check I assume). Hard to ignore which bars exactly, because they came from big vending machines sporting a logo that’s probably the most detailed texture of the game.
That reminds me of cool spot, the 7-up mascot game. It was so fucking hard!
That game was way better than a clear product placement game has any business being.
It looks like this was a Demolition Man situation where Newman’s Own paid for the north american market and Nestle Crunch took the rest.
https://tcrf.net/Proto:Tonic_Trouble_(Nintendo_64)#Gameplay_Differences
Does anyone else think it’s odd that Newman’s Own did this? I’ve never seen much advertising from them in general. And they’re one of the few companies that seems actually okay, kinda the anti-Nestle.
It’s also a very weird fit. So in NA, the hero goes to… a salad dressing vending machine? And just eats a full bottle of sauce?
It’s popcorn not salad dressing.
Uh. Didn’t know they did that, I only knew the sauce.
I guess their advertising campaign wasn’t very effective!
Reminds me of cyberpunk and the lovely mod which silenced all ads…
When was the last time EA had an idea that made things better for the customers… you know like how companies are supposed to work. Customers pay and in exchange they get something that makes their lives a little better. But it’s always just about extracting value and giving as little as possible back.
“Here take the same reskinned soccer game, now a little bit more expensive, with ads and new bugs, and some micro transactions, because you should pay us more, because fuck you”
Sports fans seem pretty happy to be fucked around though. It happens to them hard when seeing sport in real life and have to pay exorbitantly for food at stadiums/sports channel subscriptions, so EA is fucking them quite gently in comparison.
What possible motivation would they have to do that when people keep buying the crap?
By “meaningful growth driver,” they mean it’ll give Andrew Wilson a boner that makes him ugly cry.
Idk why any studio even works with these publishers, none of them are good.
Cause EA buys them and then makes them develop under the barrel of a gun
You know… They could just refuse to sell…
Or the developers could leave.
Not easy to find a new job with a new team working out as well as the old team, leaving together is hard to organize, establishing a new company with the group who left is waaay harder unless you’re a bunch of supergeniuses, and chances are you’ll just have to sell anyway due to lack of a PR machine and distribution channels like what the big publishers have.
Unless the small studio basically starts off as a co-op you devs don’t have much of a voice.
I think there would be meaning in you fucking off, EA.
