Valve signs deals with IGA for Ads in Counter-Strike...

[lordnikon]

Bad news for counter-strike fans. Valve has sold out and is now exploiting their top multiplayer franchise. Sickening...

From the article:

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http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=21838

In-game ad firm IGA Worldwide has signed an agreement with developer Valve to provide adverts in online shooter Counter-Strike.

The companies believe the deal is one of the largest in-game ad deals of its kind, which hopes to take advantage of Counter-Strike's five billion player minutes per month.

"This exclusive agreement between IGA Worldwide and Valve adds significant value to our network and provides brands with a sure-fire way to reach millions of consumers with high impact advertising, and with highly measurable results," said Justin Townsend, CEO of IGA.

"We have created a new mass-reach advertising channel where we can deliver targeted 'above the line' advertising creatives to the living rooms of highly engaged, hard to reach demographics, yet with the measurability of below the line mediums such as online," he added.

"As the world's premier online action game, Counter-Strike's player minutes exceed its closest competitor by more than 100 per cent," said Doug Lombardi, marketing director for Valve.

"Additionally, Counter-Strike rivals many of the current top ten watched shows on American televisions. For instance, a top ranked, one hour, weekly program garners 20 million viewers and results in approximately 4.8 billion viewer minutes per month.

Conversely, Counter-Strike generates over 5 billion player minutes in the same period of time. And, nobody fast-forwards through any part of Counter-Strike," added Lombardi.

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[JJNova]

I agree. It's sickening how Valve (Steam), a free multiplayer online service that's home to millions of gamers that access their servers and download maps and installation files through their bandwidth accept a deal to make some of the "Spray On" tags and/or signs into Nike graphics in order to 'counter strike' the cost of said servers and bandwidth.

Just. . . terrible.

[Andred]

I sense the sarcasm, really I do. The thing about CS is that (A) I have paid for the game and (B) it doesn't use Valve's bandwidth when I play it. I don't mind if they have ads in Steam since they do provide that service for free. But when I use my bandwidth and the bandwidth of the server that I'm playing on (NOT VALVE'S) to play a game that I paid for, I'd better not see a single freakin' ad. That's why I'll never play BF2142. I don't pay for a game and internet access so I can be marketed to. If you want to market to me, give me something for free. It's a trade-off.

[theshizzle3000]

Yeah I can only imagine killing terrorist for a couple of minutes and then the game saying "Counter Terrorists Win....To bad this can't save you money on youre car insurance". Ohh it gives me the chills.

[Joker T]

They ruined CS:S with the new pricing and now this.

It's a shame indeed.

[neuropolitique]

I don't really have a problem with this. It's just another revenue stream to offset the rising cost of creating, and supporting, games.

Also, the nature of the Ads was not covered. Will it simply be more of the in-game advertising that already exists? Maybe even a splash screen before a match starts, or after one ends. Big deal. At worst, TV commercials are simply ignored. At best they are better than the show you're watching. I see game adverts being treated the same way.

[YoshiM]

It'll depend on how bad the advertising is. If it's blatant and in your face, it will suck. If it meshes well into the game and is not distracting, I'm sure people will live with it.

A good example of a suck situation: Microsoft has their "Virtual Earth" (or whatever it's called) satellite/map program that will show 3D buildings of popular locations in certain places. I zoomed into Las Vegas down to the Strip and leveled the view so it was like I was walking on "ground level". Off in the distance I see something hovering high in the sky. I move over to the item and here's a Toyota car billboard floating in the air. And it was clickable-opening a window to Toyota's site. To me, it was distracting and I can only imagine how ugly things could get with that software.

[Wavelflack]

I thought this had something to do with the grocery store.

[Push Upstairs]

Cap a few terrorists and then see a sign for their weekly specials on Frito-Lay products!

[SMB]

Well, Doug Lombardi said that there will be ads on the scoreboard and in dust2 there will be ads on the walls

I wish they would of just altered the maps by adding advertisement signs outside of the map.

We'll have to see but I really don't like this, at all.

:(

[Ed Oscuro]

I thought this had something to do with the grocery store.
I thought they meant Koji Igarashi (often called IGA), myself...Castlevania ads in CS:S...funny.

Adopt an orphaned terrorist today!

Edit: There area already billboards in the game. I imagine they'll use those.

[jajaja]

They ruined CS:S with the new pricing and now this.

It's a shame indeed.

New pricing?

[lordnikon]

I feel Ads inside video games rip you out of the experience. Many people play video games to escape to another world. When you are trying to play a game such as counter-strike, and then are playing in a map covered with McGriddles ads, this ruins the game.

Getting the game for free, only to suffer through ads isn't even worth it. The ads break the game.

Seeing as how most classic First Person Shooters can purchase for a few dollars on eBay / Amazon or even obtained for free (Such as Tribes 1), the arguement that "we should atleast get the games for free" or that "making it free to download would make it all worthwhile" is silly. Also, for those saying ads are no big deal and that they do not mind sitting blankly at their TV all day having companies whore their products at you, try not watching Television for an entire month. I mean zero TV. Then go back and start watching TV again and you will see how horribly annoying commercials are.

What complicates the matter even further is that Valve doesn't run Counter-Strike. They run Steam. The game community at large runs Counter-Strike. Players and clans all over the world run their own servers.

It will be interesting to see what happens. There are steamless alternatives out there. I expect to see the divide grow even further, where users downgrade to an older version of CS and start playing on a steamless network.

[Push Upstairs]

I don't really mind ads in games if they *FIT IN* the game.

Ads on the walls of baseball stadiums are ok, and even the ads in "Burnout 3" were pretty tolerable. But forced ads in FPS games? Especially ones set in different time periods? I don't really see how this could work and not be intrusive.

[Joker T]

New pricing?

Yeah, the gun prices shift in real time based on demand.

Valve did this so people would change their gun buying habits. However people still want the same guns, for example people have reported that desert eagles can be up to $24,000 with the new pricing (Even though the max you can get is $16,000). Valve has tried to iron out this issue by increasing the power of other pistols.

[lordnikon]

I don't really mind ads in games if they *FIT IN* the game.

Ads on the walls of baseball stadiums are ok, and even the ads in "Burnout 3" were pretty tolerable. But forced ads in FPS games? Especially ones set in different time periods? I don't really see how this could work and not be intrusive.
Yea there are ads in games that can work to the games advantage.

Take Super Monkey Ball for instance. In that game they have the "Dole" logo on some floors and on the banana's. Yea this is blatant advertising. However the Dole Logo itelf manages to spruce up the games visual look with its design. The ray of sunshine eminating from the O in Dole compliments the bright colorful feel of Super Monkey Ball. Plus, instead of there being plain basic yellow bananas, the Red / Blue stickers on the bananas add a bit of variety.

Almost everyone I have spoken to said that the absence of the Dole logos from the PS2/Xbox releases of Super Monkey Ball Deluxe was unfortunate. GameSpot even says in its review "The Bad: no dole bananas!"

These instances are so rare though.

[JJNova]

I thought that some of the people here might be interested to learn that, at least with sports games, in game advertising apparently has no influence on your buying decisions. Your brain is safe.

http://gamecootie.com/article.php?story=20061222124605476&mode=print

[jajaja]

Yeah, the gun prices shift in real time based on demand.

Valve did this so people would change their gun buying habits. However people still want the same guns, for example people have reported that desert eagles can be up to $24,000 with the new pricing (Even though the max you can get is $16,000). Valve has tried to iron out this issue by increasing the power of other pistols.

Ah, i thought u ment real price lol :)

[neuropolitique]

Also, for those saying ads are no big deal and that they do not mind sitting blankly at their TV all day having companies whore their products at you, try not watching Television for an entire month. I mean zero TV. Then go back and start watching TV again and you will see how horribly annoying commercials are.

You've missed the point in your example. Yes, the ads may be annoying at first, but after some time has passed you will be as used to them as you are TV commercials.