14 DAY TRIAL // Sony Computer Entertainment America and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe are announcing that the PlayStation 3 platform is now open to advertising. Multiple partners are expected to provide the commercials themselves, while Sony will take care of the integration with its platform. The first advertising partner selected by the company is IGA Worldwide.
The PlayStation 3 is of interest for advertisers because of the fact that over 12 million consoles have already been sold, with the number expected to rise in 2008. This guarantees a big potential audience for all the companies that acquire commercial space on the console.
Phil Rosenberg, a senior vice president at Sony Computer Entertainment America, has stated that "The PS3 platform is primed to leverage the high growth potential of the in-game advertising market. Ads that are organic to the environment not only benefit developers and advertisers, but also create a richer experience for gamers."
The above statement makes it clear that the ads will only make their way into games where they make sense and where the game world allows it. The deal will probably initially target only games that Sony itself publishes for the PlayStation 3 platform, with subsequent deals with other publishers needed to see in-game ads in third party titles.
Justin Townsend, the Chief Executive Officer for IGA Worldwide, thinks that the "PlayStation 3 is undoubtedly the prime opportunity for the in-game advertising industry. Through this partnership with Sony Computer Entertainment, IGA can provide advertisers with a large and valuable global user base of 16-35 year old consumers with disposable income."
More and more such deals are being closed in the videogame industry and the main reason for them is that videogames attract one of the demographic sectors that traditional advertising is no longer able to reach, that of the young, 21 to 33 years old bachelor with a high interest in technology. Slowly, this type of consumer is less and less drawn towards television and newspapers and more and more attracted to the Internet as a medium and to videogames, so it's only natural for the advertising industry to try and follow him in these mediums.