US PC in-game advertising will increase from $80 million in 2005 to more than $400 million in 2009, according to new research from Parks Associates (see US In-Game Adspend To Reach $1.8 Billion By 2010).
Most in-game ads are currently from the automotive, food and beverage, apparel and lifestyle industries, aimed squarely at “core gamers”, males in the 18-34 demographic.
The research showed that males aged 18-34 are more open to seeing advertising than other age groups with 29% saying that they would not mind seeing ads in games as long as it helps to enhance game play, compared to only 19% among female gamers 35-54.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the percentage of gamers willing to put up with ads in games if there is a chance to win prizes is similar among males and females, with 38% among 18-34 male and 35% among 35-54 female.
In terms of which type of in-game ads are preferred by gamers, product placement (49%) came above pre-game ads (22%) and in-gamer bulletin boards (18%) for males 18-34, while women 35-54 prefer pre-game ads (42%) over product placement (36%) and between-level ad placement (13%).
The survey also showed that gamers want price discounts on games in exchange for being exposed to in-game ads, with the expected discount ranging from 31% for gamers aged 13-17 to 58% for women 55 and above.
Michael Cai, director of broadband and gaming at Parks Associates, said: “In-game advertising, currently in its infancy, is poised to grow. Games are now an important form of family entertainment. Advertisers will soon realize they can reach the whole family using this medium. More and more adults play video games with their children and teens are even playing games with their parents. In addition, the 35-54 female gamers, who spend tens of hours playing casual games every month, are undermonetized.”
Parks Associates’ predictions are based on an online survey called Electronic Gaming in the Digital Home, which questioned more than 2,000 internet gamers who have internet access and play games at least one hour per month on a console, portable console or PC.
A recent study by comScore Networks claimed that in-game advertising could be worth up to £2 billion by 2010 (see In-Game Ads Look Appetising For Advertisers).
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