In-game advertisers are making their in roads into gaming publisher. With companies like SOE, Atari, and Ubisoft all signing on the dotted line, it'll soon be easier to say what publishers aren't using in-game ads. Last week, Codemasters was checked off the list of companies to using an in-game ad company by signing with IGA Worldwide.

Codemasters isn't quite as well renowned here as they are in the U.K., but that makes them no less a significant developer and publisher. Their titles, like Brian Lara International Cricket and Colin McRae Rally are big draws in Britain and are titles any in-game ad company would lke to add to their network. "The fact that another of the world's leading videogame publishers has made the transition to IGA as a one-stop solution for their in-game advertising further demonstrates the strength and business value of our offering and our position as the leading independent company in the industry," said Justin Townsend, CEO of IGA Worldwide, at the time of the announcement. "Codemasters' proven ability to deliver globally successful franchises will open up a whole new range of possibilities for the world's leading brands and agencies, enabling advertisers to reach their target demographics across an exciting range of game genres and platforms."

GameDaily BIZ chatted with Ed Bartlett, Vice President Europe at IGA, about the deal and what it means for the future of both companies

Bartlett was very happy about this deal with Codemasters, thinking it a natural fit for both companies.
"IGA has been in discussions with Codemasters, and indeed every other major game publisher and developer since the company was formed and in fact IGA's wholly owned communications consultancy, Hive, was already working in cooperation with Codemasters on product placement and co-promotion opportunities before its acquisition by IGA," he said. "However this has been the first opportunity during that time for Codemasters and IGA to enter into such an exclusive agreement."

"Codemasters are renowned for their sports and racing titles, and at IGA we already have some fantastic games from those genres in our Radial network such as GTR and WTCC, so this is a fantastic opportunity to expand our aggregate reach in those areas as well as increasing our platform coverage to include mobile and next-gen consoles," Bartlett continued. "We also firmly believe that Codemasters will continue its already impressive company and portfolio growth over the coming months, and so as with all our publishing partners we are looking to build long-term relationships."

Getting down to brass tacks, Bartlett explained why fans of their favorite Codemasters series shouldn't be worried about a dip in quality. In fact, their hoping that players will embrace the dynamic ads compared to the static ones branding the environments before. The revenue from the ads should also help the games in the long run, by increasing the amount of potential spending revenue for Codemasters in the future.

"Given that both titles are sport-related, end-users are unlikely to notice any visible difference from previous iterations, all of which had 'static' hard-coded brands in them," Bartlett said, commenting on how ads would appear in Brian Lara International Cricket 2007 and Colin McRae Rally. "Typically you will see 4:1 and 8:1 sports hoardings at the perimeters of the play field and race tracks, and less frequently you might see 2:1 billboards and video screens, but the main difference is that they will continually change and update over the lifespan of the game as well as being location specific, which keeps the look and feel of the environments fresh. Additionally, Hive is working on more integrated opportunities such as event sponsorship, timing and broadcast sponsors and equipment and accessory sponsors. Basically anything which adds realism, context or extra content to the gamer's experience."

"I don't think it can be underestimated, and I think if you look at any major publisher or independent developer today, over 90% have either concrete plans or are already active in the sector [of in-game ads]," he explained. "If you take a million-selling game, if you can suddenly add $1 to $2 per unit through monetizing something which in most cases is already present in the game environments, yet with less work than it historically has taken to integrate hard-coded ads, it's a pretty compelling story. From the gamer's perspective, we have already seen some instances where revenues from IGA have contributed towards developers and publishers being able to release a product free of charge, as is the case with the Esports racing game, Trackmania Nations, which is the largest title in our network today because of that. However when it comes to AAA multi-platform titles, we are unlikely to ever see a time where 100% of the production, marketing and distribution costs can be offset by in-game advertising."

While this exclusive agreement with the Codies is a big win for IGA, their job isn't done yet. There are plenty of publishers left unsigned, and with the Massive acquisition by Microsoft, competition is only going to get more fierce. "IGA has a significant advantage in the market in that its founder, executive management and board team includes several individuals whose combined video game industry careers span over 75 years, most of which has been spent at the very highest levels within global corporations such as Sony, THQ, Activision and Acclaim, and so the level of relationships and reputation these people bring to IGA is immeasurable at this embryonic stage of the market," commented Bartlett. "I think that fact is and will continue to be borne out by the quality and quantity of 'wins' for IGA both to date and over the coming weeks and months. We are focused on building what we believe will be the leading global in-game ad serving network, and as such you can expect to see continued top-level publisher and developer traction in both the US, Europe and beyond."

Finally, we asked about the "unannounced, next-generation property" by Codemasters tantalizingly hinted at when the alliance between the two companies was first announced. Bartlett had only the teaser to add: "Unfortunately as much as I would like to sing it from the rooftops, Codemasters are rightly keeping the content of this one under wraps at this early stage as it has no real competitors in the market today. What I can say is that in-game advertising will fit in seamlessly, and that gamers are in for a treat."