Motorola, Puma, Pizza Hut, Ericsson, Jeep, Chrysler: they're all advertising their wares in
games, sometimes requiring players to interact with their products in order to advance to the next level.
It's all part of the in-game advertising trend that we've been watching closely here at Joystiq, and which is finally gaining traction in the mainstream media. And you know once they get their hands on it the trend only tends to accelerate.
This could actually be good for the industry if it becomes a significant revenue stream that supports more varied and more daring projects. Publishers are currently unwilling to take risks on titles that don't have a strong likelihood of selling enough copies to recoup development costs and then some.
If advertising revenues prove to be a viable way of earning money on a wider array of titles, then we could see more innovation (and more ads). Finding new sources of revenue is especially important with the costs of development for next-generation consoles expected to reach stratospheric new heights.
This all assumes that the advertising can be done in a way that doesn't hurt the gaming experience. Knowing where to draw the line is difficult, however. Does Everquest II's "/pizza" command interfere with gameplay because it is incongruous with the fantasy world or does it actually deepen and enrich the experience because it means that players never need to leave their seats to order food?
See also: Wired News coverage of ads in games
