I’ve caught mention of former Shiny operative Dave Perry off doing something for Acclaim, but hadn’t really paid too much attention other than reading about it on Blue’s News. Turns out what he’s doing is kind of interesting. From the Wired article “In-Game Ads Burrow Deeper” (Link):
Acclaim is about to take product placement to another level with its free, ad-supported massively multiplayer online games next year. Game industry veteran Dave Perry, who’s directing 2Moons for Acclaim and creating several additional MMO games, wants to open up the door for corporate-sponsored micro transactions.“When you buy a virtual item, we’re going to do a search to see if any advertiser in real-time is willing to pick up the cost of that item,” said Perry. “If you want this sword, it would put up a message and ask if you would like Coca-Cola to buy this item for you.”
Perry said this business model makes the customer happy because they get the item for free and the corporate sponsor is happy because they’ve had a positive exchange with the consumer.
Less than an advergame; more than an in-game ad. And better than mere sponsorship. Clever. Slimey, but clever.
Original post: http://blog.rebang.com/?p=1044
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