#AD
It seems that two of gaming’s most disliked concepts are joining forces: EA and ads. According to a report by Axios, a platform called playerWON (not streaming service PlayerWonTV) is partnering with companies like EA and Hi-Rez Studios for what appear to be nefarious reasons.
Well, nefarious for everyone involved that isn’t EA, Hi-Rez Studios, and playerWON. If you have played mobile games, particularly the free-to-play kind, you are probably familiar with in-game ads. These kind of ads are what you might be seeing from this partnership in the future.
Some ads on mobile games just kind of pop up and you can close them after a few seconds. There are also the kind that you can voluntarily open for in-game rewards, like premium currency or more energy or something.
This function is what playerWON is trying to capture with their in-game ads, though the rewards would more likely be appropriate for console games, such as cosmetics or other perks.
playerWON is operated by Simulmedia, a TV ad company, who has apparently done marketing research and tests over the past year that supports this initiative they are taking.
Now, COGconnected is not a marketing company, but we have seen instances where video games have been pushing in-game ads and it does not go over well. Maybe the vague outline of this plan mixed with the concept of in-game ads is just giving us the wrong idea, but kind of sounds like something companies should not do if they want to earn or stay in the players’ favor.
How does this move by playerWON sound to you? Let us know in the comments below.