Just because a game has advertising doesn’t automatically make it a bad game. Need for Speed Underground 2 did this very well.

There was advertising for various real world business sponsors of the game, like Old Spice, Gillette, Best Buy, and various automotive related brands. But NFS U2 is literally peak, best of the best Need for Speed. How is this possible with advertising? Because it made the advertising part of the game world in an unintrustive way. Billboards along the sides of racetracks, Best Buy buildings in the scenery you drive around, these were great ways the developers incorporated ads into the game without them being intrusive or interrupting the game. It was also the correct genre of game for advertising, as this would not work so well if it was in a game like Skyrim, for example.

If another game needs to have ads in it, I am okay with it if they implement them in the same way NFS U2 did. No pop-ups, no " watch 3 ad videos for 2 gas droplets," none of that. Just a static image on a billboard, implemented in a manner that doesnt interrupt my game and that fits its genre.

I’d rather premium games didn’t take money from unrelated companies to modify their games in any way. Not unless they’re sharing the ad profits they’re making off me with me or using it to offset the price of the game for consumers. But I am violently anti-ad.