EA Exploring 'Thoughtful Implementations' of In-Game Advertising | Push Square

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Electronic Arts, the publisher everyone loves to hate, isn't doing itself many favours among already-jaded onlookers. The company's CEO, Andrew Wilson, has already talked about implementing generative AI into its development processes, but that same earnings call saw him discuss another contentious idea: in-game ads.

Asked directly about the opportunity to implement advertising in games, Wilson says it's an area that could be a «meaningful driver of growth» for EA. While discussions around this subject are «still early», Wilson says it'll be «very thoughtful» as they move into it. EA has «teams internally in the company right now looking at how do we do very thoughtful implementations inside of our game experiences,» he says.

The idea of in-game advertising isn't exactly a new one; there have been many examples of products or companies appearing inside video games. In fact, it was fairly common in the 90s, and even some entire games were essentially glorified adverts for major brands. While that fell away as games grew more complex, the idea of in-game ads these days is probably quite different — probably more in-line with ads popping up or playing while you're enjoying a mobile game. That's just speculation from us, but we imagine the implementation could be pretty blunt.

Elsewhere, Wilson has bigged up the next Battlefield, saying it's being made by its biggest ever team and that he «couldn't be more excited» about this next instalment.

Stephen has been part of the Push Square team for over six years, bringing boundless enthusiasm and a deep knowledge of video games to his role as Assistant Editor. Having grown up playing every PlayStation console to date, he's developed an eclectic taste, with particular passion for indie games, arcade racers, and puzzlers. He's also our go-to guy for Sonic-related matters, much to his delight/chagrin.

Honestly, ad placements in racing and sports games are completely fine and non-immersion breaking. It's not any different from