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EA makes Massive in-game ad deal

Publisher signs multiyear pact with Microsoft-owned dynamic ad network for spots in Burnout and Need for Speed, annualized sports.

While the debate continues to rage over whether in-game ads enhance or detract from sports titles, publishers continue to add their games to advertisement networks unabated. Today, sports publishing kingpin Electronic Arts announced it had extended its dynamic in-game ad-serving arrangement with Microsoft-owned Massive Inc. to a multiyear deal for many of its top titles on the Xbox 360 and PC.

As part of the new deal, Massive will provide dynamic in-game ads for the next two installments in the Madden NFL, NBA Live, NASCAR racing, and NHL hockey installments on Microsoft's platforms. Anyone disappointed by the inability to destroy ad-coated billboards in Burnout Paradise will be disheartened to know that they will continue to not be able to do so in the future, thanks to Massive. Also included in the deal is EA's popular Need for Speed franchise, with Massive set to provide ads for NFS: Carbon and ProStreet.

As for games not included in the announcement, such as Skate and Tiger Woods, EA and Massive were unclear as to how, if at all, in-game ads will be served. Responding to requests for comment, an EA representative somewhat contradictorily noted that today's announcement pertained to titles publicly announced. "Today's announcement is only focused on the titles included in the press release," said the Microsoft rep. "As more new EA titles are publicly announced, you can expect to hear plans about how the Massive relationship affects them."

However, the next installments in EA Sports' football, basketball, hockey, and NASCAR have not been officially unveiled. EA had not responded to requests for further clarification as of press time.

199 Comments

  • kmatsho30

    Posted Aug 20, 2009 6:31 pm GMT

    knux15 Posted Apr 11, 2008 7:48 am GMT meh EA games i usually just grab a reviewers disc that was mailed to me or just go to my friends house and chip in 40:60... 60% on his end since it's at his house lol... but seriously 90% of the time I will play the reviewers copy, right a review about how bad it was and never think of the game again... I don't know the last time I gave EA a rating above 75% o wait, yea i do, it was NFS 3 Hot Pursuit

  • kmatsho30

    Posted Aug 20, 2009 6:31 pm GMT

    knux15 Posted Apr 11, 2008 7:48 am GMT meh EA games i usually just grab a reviewers disc that was mailed to me or just go to my friends house and chip in 40:60... 60% on his end since it's at his house lol... but seriously 90% of the time I will play the reviewers copy, right a review about how bad it was and never think of the game again... I don't know the last time I gave EA a rating above 75% o wait, yea i do, it was NFS 3 Hot Pursuit

  • knux15

    Posted Apr 10, 2008 11:48 pm GMT

    meh EA games i usually just grab a reviewers disc that was mailed to me or just go to my friends house and chip in 40:60... 60% on his end since it's at his house lol... but seriously 90% of the time I will play the reviewers copy, right a review about how bad it was and never think of the game again... I don't know the last time I gave EA a rating above 75% o wait, yea i do, it was NFS 3 Hot Pursuit doh

  • favre4thewin

    Posted Mar 26, 2008 7:24 am GMT

    First its on field adds then next its in game comercials. Wait, I shouldn't have said that. Some EA executive might read this and do it for next years version.

  • Office_Ninja

    Posted Mar 23, 2008 9:11 pm GMT

    If only there was a way to filter out the ads with software addons.... I haven't seen one in a long time since I installed adblock in my browser...

  • dany_gamer_kid

    Posted Mar 22, 2008 5:01 am GMT

    ads in-game are useless,and they distract me and other games. i started to hate ea for they love of money on crap quality(last 2 nfs games)

  • rbenns2

    Posted Mar 20, 2008 8:42 am GMT

    EA is always finding more ways to increase their profits. Good for them, bad for us. Also, do we really need more annual sequels? They deny it now, but the profits are too great for them to dismiss an annual GTA, should the Take 2 deal come through.

  • delorean529

    Posted Mar 20, 2008 7:35 am GMT

    I'm againts EA's descision but I dont mind seeing a Pizza Hut in Burnout. The ads I hate are cars covered in vinyl for advertisment and billboards. I would also like to make all the ads (like that guys example of a DELL computer) destroyable. I don't like a Pepsi billboards but I love a destroyable Pepsi machine.

  • swb21

    Posted Mar 20, 2008 7:06 am GMT

    Pure greed on EA's part. Will they charge $30 for a new game now? Yeah right. Video games used to be one of the few forms of entertainment where ads weren't shoved down your throat every second. EA will change that. Thanks a lot EA.

  • TehUndeadHorror

    Posted Mar 19, 2008 11:37 pm GMT

    "In game ads are annoying. I was playing urnout, whoich is frustrating as you cannot restart a race if you lose, so you try not to (obviously). I was about to win when a van went across the road and blocked it, causing me to crash straight into it. i had a look at the van and it said "gillette fusion" in big letters! Now I hate gillette because they ruined my race! "

    OMG IT HAPPENED TO YOU TOO!!!

  • x-2tha-z

    Posted Mar 19, 2008 6:42 pm GMT

    I was playing the Burnout Paradise demo earlier. After a few minutes driving around I noticed a billboard advertisement for Diesel jeans. It took me out of the experience and was very distracting. I turned the demo off after that. I have no plans to buy Burnout Paradise. I wish EA would disappear.

  • VINCEMEDINA

    Posted Mar 19, 2008 3:30 pm GMT

    And do they ever lower the prices of the video games that have all of these ads? NO

  • Proust

    Posted Mar 19, 2008 2:57 pm GMT

    I hate ingame adds and, oh how fitting, my two least favorite game companies.

  • X-RS

    Posted Mar 19, 2008 2:27 pm GMT

    i hope hustler/playboy/victorias secret realize that advertising in videogames would turn them a good profit. so much for live being free.

  • perfectone30

    Posted Mar 19, 2008 1:51 pm GMT

    Maybe if you guys didn't buy madden hand over foot the past 4 years EA wouldn't have the money to ruin games like they have now.

  • thefallenghost

    Posted Mar 19, 2008 1:41 pm GMT

    TERRIBLE

  • H16

    Posted Mar 19, 2008 1:15 pm GMT

    EA disgusts me.

  • buckybuckster

    Posted Mar 19, 2008 11:37 am GMT

    I play games for the pure fun and enjoyment they provide me...not to have my status as a captive consumer catered to.

    The only good ads in video games are the fake ones.
    The day I see "VIVA VIAGRA" plastered on some in game surface...is the day I give up playing. Well....maybe not, but you get my point.

  • NinjaMunkey01

    Posted Mar 19, 2008 11:03 am GMT

    In game ads are annoying. I was playing urnout, whoich is frustrating as you cannot restart a race if you lose, so you try not to (obviously). I was about to win when a van went across the road and blocked it, causing me to crash straight into it. i had a look at the van and it said "gillette fusion" in big letters! Now I hate gillette because they ruined my race!

  • thekey

    Posted Mar 19, 2008 9:41 am GMT

    I say this with all honesty and bias.... F EA!

  • Soupflakez

    Posted Mar 19, 2008 9:31 am GMT

    EA sucks!!

    Why are they trying to push in-game advertising (which, btw, the majority of gamers hate}? EA has just turned into a giant monopoly that is literally destroying the gaming industry. EA hasn't churned out a good game since the 90's (with the exception of bought-out developers like Harmonix}.

  • theslimdavylp

    Posted Mar 19, 2008 9:18 am GMT

    As long as the games stay cool, I don't mind, who cares

  • trystkl1826

    Posted Mar 19, 2008 9:11 am GMT

    Many of us get more than enough of our fair share with advertisement in our daily lives. Loyal gamers pay a hefty overall amount for the games we purchase. Games should remain free of ads. The games already advertise products, especially sports games. The brand name clothing, the balls, the tennis racket, the cars etc...I'm against games being a new medium for ads, especially if we will not be able to bypass the ad to play the game.

  • gastonxxl

    Posted Mar 19, 2008 9:00 am GMT

    Shouldn't we, the game purchasers, see some reduction in the game's retail price? The gaming world is abusing the advertisement model. Advertising on tv keeps a lot of tv free because it subsidizes many costs. It will be a cold day in hell if I have to shell out another $60 for a game that has in-game advertising that I can not turn off. Share the wealth and let some trickle down to the consumer. If you're making money off advertising, let us feel some of that in return.

  • nocoolnamejim Site moderator

    Posted Mar 19, 2008 8:11 am GMT

    I'm glad that I won't be buying any of those games.

    But I swear, if EA tries to stick advertisements into Mass Effect 2 the apocalypse will arrive.

  • fluffebunnie

    Posted Mar 19, 2008 7:47 am GMT

    Ah and people wonder why some are angry about EA trying to buy up all the good publishers. EA is still ruining gaming. Good to see nothing has changed. It's getting harder and harder to find good games these days and eventually I am going to just stop buying new games all together. I'll always have my old systems and PCs to play my favorite games on but the way things are going now it's straight down the toilet.

  • AdaptorLive

    Posted Mar 19, 2008 6:51 am GMT

    I wonder if Peter Moore had anything to do with this deal..

  • high_flier429

    Posted Mar 19, 2008 6:44 am GMT

    Funny how some peeps on here say: "it's no big deal, ads are just fine", while this may not bother many if the context is ok, such as the billboards in racing games and boxing ring floor advertisements.
    But seeing a billboard for a product available today, while playing a game set decades in the future really takes away from the experience IMO.
    RANT: It is 2015, I'm scoping out enemy placements with my elite Ghost Recon squad, and all of a sudden we come upon a huge billboard for "The All new Dode POS" Well, that mood setting and atmosphere goes right out the window and it breaks up my experience. Even worst case in point BF2142. So on and so forth....

  • Nishua

    Posted Mar 19, 2008 6:36 am GMT

    So now your making more money off of those foolish enough to continue to buy your products. It would be nice if they threw them a bone and dropped the prices of your titles. Nah, never mind your EA i forgot.

  • sun_spirit

    Posted Mar 19, 2008 5:23 am GMT

    Oh for God's sake, as if we don't have enough advertising anyway...
    This just ruins a perfectly good game...
    before we know it we'll be getting ads for lightspeed briefs in our dreams!

  • punkpunker

    Posted Mar 19, 2008 4:15 am GMT

    F.Y.I EA, there is MORE people watching ads on tv then seeing them on games.if you care more on ads then the core gameplay or graphics itself like burnout paradise, your just selling ads and not gameplay that cost 60 bucks.people watching ads on tv are convenient because ITS their break time and cost $0.00 but cost 20 sec of your life. its just BS!

  • HK88

    Posted Mar 19, 2008 3:25 am GMT

    I don't mind the ads in the games. I just wish they would reduce the price of the game since they are getting paid for the ads and spamming them every 10 feet in Burnout Paradise, for example. Throw in the price of the dlc this generation and we are paying a lot of money for a video games 70-90+.

  • raze-boi

    Posted Mar 19, 2008 3:20 am GMT

    EA sucks!

  • jivemaster

    Posted Mar 19, 2008 1:01 am GMT

    The worrying thing is when EA finally buys all developers, at which point they will riddle the majority of games in the market (because they'll own them) with ads and other garbage. EA can suck my nads. One more reason to not buy EA (on top of the fact that their games are garbage).

    And how exactly does this hurt loading times and/or bandwidth? They've neglected to advise of this. I dont want games taking extra time to load just to collect ads and paste them on environments.

    I stopped buying burnout games as soon as EA snatched criterion.

  • sherif77

    Posted Mar 18, 2008 11:49 pm GMT

    EA's games suck anyway, for the last couple of years they managed to ruin the Nascar games. They are doing the same now with Burnout franchise as well. I downloaded the demo of paradise and deleted it instantly once I saw what they have done to the game and how much ads are in there for no reason what so ever. If u are this ad crazy, offer the game to all of us for half the price of other games. We all get to see ads on TV for free, why pay for it here??

  • Y1bollus

    Posted Mar 18, 2008 11:11 pm GMT

    THey should just start adding after everything 'sponsered by...' get the announcers to say it once every 10 seconds, rename everything in the game so its the name of a sponser... instead of humans in games make sure they are replaced with what ever item they are trying to sell. Release a game called 'adverts' and all it has is adverts.

  • snax13

    Posted Mar 18, 2008 10:31 pm GMT

    Bloodhawk_CX, haha, your right...its sad, but true...EA is going crazy, their like Tom Cruise for gaming...

  • Merl57

    Posted Mar 18, 2008 10:18 pm GMT

    The in game ads in Paradise WERE TERRIBLE TERRIBLE TERRIBLE! what does shaving have to do with a van? The announcer making fun of me because I don't got a high def TV. This is not good in ANY game environment, I am sorry, if I offend anyone, but in game ads, are a terrible sell out of artistic souls, for money, and profit at the expense of a focused ideal for games

  • Bloodhawk_DX

    Posted Mar 18, 2008 10:10 pm GMT

    It wont just stop at sports games. I can't wait until we see the final boss fight of the new Mass Effect game that EA now owns. We'll get a zoom in shot of the hero with blue sweat running off him/her and the we'll see "Is it in you?" fade in before the credits. Maybe they'll slap some Nikes in the game as well to increase the duration of the heroes sprint. Let's not forget that you'll still pay 60 dollars for the game.

  • perfectone30

    Posted Mar 18, 2008 9:38 pm GMT

    Whats new about the modern era EA taking money over customer satisfaction anways? I mean what would you do if you were offered 1,000,000 dollars to write I love tuna fish salad on the back of your shirt?

  • Paulf001

    Posted Mar 18, 2008 8:19 pm GMT

    Yay now we can hear real radio ads in GTA when EA buys out Taketwo. /end sarcasm

  • Young_Taizy

    Posted Mar 18, 2008 8:01 pm GMT

    At least Ea and Massive aren't just going to stick ads in every game under the EA banner.

  • dafunkaybuddha

    Posted Mar 18, 2008 7:48 pm GMT

    look its nfs:u2 all over again...

  • ghost867

    Posted Mar 18, 2008 7:32 pm GMT

    Ugh. Unless the advertisements fit the atmosphere, they don't stick out more then anything else in the world, they don't take me out of the world, and they don't interrupt my gaming, then they don't belong in my games. Period. And if a game has a lot of horrible in game advertising in it, I WILL NOT BUY IT. And I recommend you do the same. Hopefully, rather then making more money off the ads, EA will make less when less people buy their games if they use awful advertising.

    Though so many of you fools are complete suckers for sports rehashes, so I don't expect their sports titles to change at all, and that may transfer negatively into other EA titles. Thanks a lot sports heads, I appreciate you're negative contribution to the gaming industry. Just keep buying those crappy rehashes.

  • vest816

    Posted Mar 18, 2008 7:22 pm GMT

    Maybe with that extra revenue you can reduce the prices of your games? After all, if you're subjecting us, your gaming demographic, to YOUR ad deals, which YOU make the money from, shouldn't WE the subjects be compensated a little upon check-out?

  • -HCMF-

    Posted Mar 18, 2008 6:52 pm GMT

    and this is the way the world ends....

  • Avenger1324

    Posted Mar 18, 2008 6:48 pm GMT

    EA Adverts - They're in the game

  • TongLong

    Posted Mar 18, 2008 6:44 pm GMT

    I really hope Take Two holds out, imagine how mashed up GTA would be full of REAL ads that the game has traditionally made fun of? No one wants to watch movies or TV anymore, so the ads come to games now. Brutal.

  • ColdfireTrilogy

    Posted Mar 18, 2008 6:35 pm GMT

    wonderful ....

  • Protocol_5

    Posted Mar 18, 2008 6:05 pm GMT

    I feel these advertisements detract from my video game experience. If there are a few billboards or posters I don't mind, but in most EA games there are billboards, flyers, posters, cars, and even in-game commercials. If these advertisements made the price of EA's games go down, instead of staying at $60, then I wouldn't be as annoyed. But EA wants to soak up money for their stock and hoping for a price drop is a waste of time.

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