As more and more people turn to video games instead of TV for their daily entertainment in-game ads will become big business. You may have heard about a company called Massive Incorporated, but they aren't the only game in town. IGA Worldwide is preparing an in-game network as well and now they have acquired advertising firm Hive Partners to help them.
In-game advertising technology company IGA Worldwide
IGA Worldwide operates subsidiaries such as IGA Partners North America (formerly In-game Partners LLC), IGA Partners Europe, and IGA Technologies. The company, along with competitors such as Massive Incorporated, believes analysts' estimates that the in-game advertising market could reach over $1 billion in the next console generation, and that the video game medium is going to do nothing but increase in relevance among young males age 18-34.
"Developers and publishers can expect the revenues for in-game advertising to grow significantly in both scale and frequency over the near to medium future, and one of the roles of IGA Partners is to assist them in developing and maintaining premium pricing for their in-game advertising inventory as the industry continues to mature," IGA Partners North America CEO Andrew Sispoidis said.
[ "My feeling is that in-game advertising will help to finally establish gaming as the dominant entertainment medium of the 21st Century," Ed Bartlett, CEO, Hive Partners ]
Technology Enables Dynamic Advertising
All three next-gen systems will be broadband-enabled, and are expected to be "always on." This broadband connection awareness allows companies like IGA to dynamically load ads into predetermined spots within games, which are then highly trackable and measurable.
"Being a part of our network will prove to be a consistent and valuable source of EBIDTA for publishers, helping to ease the pressures of the increasing costs associated with bringing a title to market as we transition to a new generation of hardware," Sispoidis continued.
The company promised their technology was specifically developed to "ensure ease of integration and operation as well as provide the critical metrics for both brands and game publishers to calculate reach and ROI."
IGA's technology hasn't yet been used in a commercially released product, but it was tested in an open source version of Counter-Strike in 2004, with over a million ad impressions served. IGA stated that in the past 12 months the company has finalized their global infrastructure necessary to launch the worldwide network.
Hive Partners Gives You Wings
In an effort to offer a "through the line" approach to the medium, the company also acquired ad agency Hive Partners, the company responsible for several high-profile in-game advertising initiatives.
Currently based out of Europe, Hive Partners is set to expand into North America, and will serve to fulfill the creative and strategic aspects of in-game advertising for the group's various brands.
Hive Partner's CEO Ed Bartlett will move to IGA, as Vice President of European Publishing. "It's been incredibly exciting helping to kick-start this new industry over the past couple of years with Hive, but it's been a dot within a dot compared with what is yet to come. My feeling is that in-game advertising will help to finally establish gaming as the dominant entertainment medium of the 21st Century," Bartlett said.
