Electronic Arts (EA) is reportedly developing a strategy to incorporate advertisements into their AAA-rated games. During EA’s recent earnings call, CEO Andrew Wilson expressed that having in-game advertisements in AAA Titles has a very huge growth rate opportunity for the company. The main decisive point of this statement is the introduction of advertisements into games that users have already purchased.
The concept of in-game ads isn’t new, the challenge lies in moderating them to avoid disrupting gameplay. EA has been testing ad placements in games such as UFC 4, Need for Speed Carbon, and Battlefield 2142 which they faced some backlash from fans.
EA’s Venture into In-Game Advertisements in AAA Titles
Electronic Arts (EA) has seen much backlash from fans about various things like micro-transactions, and shutting down the studio but with the latest Earning Report call, CEO Andrew Wilson said that Advertisements might have a very bright future in the gaming industry. He signifies that games can now have even more in-game ads even in AAA games which players pay upwards of $70.
CEO Andrew Wilson also said “It’s still early on that front” and “We have teams internally in the company right now looking at how do we do very thoughtful implementations inside of our game experiences” meaning that EA has not fully dived into the concept but the evidence said otherwise.
There are many games under EA that have seen many advertisements. Games like UFC 4 faced a huge backlash when an in-game ad interfered with gameplay and in the end, EA had to remove the advertisements.
After hearing this news, many fans were very angry with EA and called them out on Twitter.
EA CEO says they're looking at putting ads in their video games 🎮 pic.twitter.com/sInIZv8kLv
— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) May 10, 2024
I honestly wonder if they sit there and brain storm these terrible ideas and think, "They're absolutely going to love this!" And then they're shocked when everyone hates it. Or do they not see the negativity? Blows my mind.
— 👑BadGuy👑 (@BadGuy_Zim) May 10, 2024
I remember EA literally had the in-game announcers read Snickers ads in NCAA Football 2005. And last I knew, NBA Live let you pick from authentic Nike, Jordan, and Adidas sneakers for your players to wear. pic.twitter.com/tZCk97aU4F
— arock (@arocktweets) May 10, 2024
@EA If you all put ads in-game, I can only speak for myself, I'll never buy another EA game.
— Tyler Risner (@EllipticThunder) May 10, 2024
EA is looking at putting in-game ads in AAA games — 'We'll be very thoughtful as we move into that,' says CEO
Don't even bother. Can you imagine paying £60 for a game and having in-game ads. Bad enough, the Internet has become billboards for adverts
— ✖️ The Gaming Monkeys 🎮- Vérified (@GamerMonkey_) May 10, 2024
The negativity behind the in-game ads is seen because companies tend not to place them subtly but the ads are always in front which ruins the gaming experience for many players.
In-Game Advertisement’s Future in the Gaming Industry
In-game ads are not a new concept for EA, as they have been experimenting with in-game ads for years now. The early games like Need for Speed Carbon, Battlefield 2142, Madden and NASCAR games all had some kind of ads in the game.
The concept of in-game ads is also not new as this has been going on and EA is not the only company doing it as there are many in-game ads in games like American Truck Simulator, etc. The mobile games have been notorious for ads in-game but CEO Wilson has said in his call that they will be very thoughtful about all the ads placed in games.
The in-game advertisements have been in the gaming industry since the early 2000s but the placement of these ads has been subtle, to say the least. Companies like Square Enix, SCS Software’s American Truck Simulator, etc have been selling some ad space.
Advertisements are beneficial for the company in terms of profit but the implementation of these in-game ads can ruin the gaming experience of the fans and can harm the company’s or the IPs’ reputation in the long run.
