PlayNC
  • UK and European English Site
  • French Site
  • German Site
  • North American Site
Defiant: UP Zukunft: UP Vigilance: UP Union: UP
Newsfeeds

News

News Graphic

Optional In-Game Advertising Announced

03 Apr, 2008

In a press release just issued we have today announced a partnership with game advertising provider Double Fusion to implement optional in-game advertising to City of Heroes. Click through for the full press release…

NCSOFT SELECTS DOUBLE FUSION AS GAME ADVERTISING PARTNER FOR CITY OF HEROES

Brighton, England (April 3rd, 2008) – Leading independent game advertising provider Double Fusion has entered an agreement with NCsoft®, the leading developer and publisher of online computer games to represent the successful comic-book inspired massively multiplayer online game, City of Heroes®.  Double Fusion will provide the technology and sales force to bring brands into the popular online role-playing game which takes place in a modern urban setting, an ideal environment for unobtrusive in-game advertising. 

Double Fusion and NCsoft are focused on providing value to the players through this advertising partnership.  While real world ads will lend realism to the urban world of City of Heroes, NCsoft also plans on taking advantage of Double Fusion’s technology to display player-created content within the game. The publisher will dedicate all advertising dollars it earns to fund further game development for the online title, yet still allow players to opt out of advertising in order to provide flexibility to community members.

“Our partnership with NCsoft is a clear showcase for two of our guiding philosophies: bringing value to the player through appropriate use of advertising spaces and bringing new business models to the marketplace by creating new revenue streams that can help fund game development and community support” said Jonathan Epstein, president and CEO, Double Fusion. 

City of Heroes is a key property for NCsoft and we take great care to grow and nurture our player community,” said Brian Clayton, General Manager of NCsoft’s Northern California studio.  “We are pleased to work with Double Fusion on City of Heroes, as they have demonstrated sensitivity to the needs of our community and fundamentally understand how advertising can bring value to the players when executed gracefully, and in the appropriate context. In addition to allowing any of our players to opt-out if they so choose, their flexible technology will not only allow us to bring brand messages into the game but also provide a fun, new platform for displaying player-created materials.”

The addition of City of Heroes to the Double Fusion network demonstrates the company’s commitment to offering their advertiser and agency partners a wide array of in-game advertising opportunities, to maximizing revenues for its publisher and developer partners and to building a portfolio of top titles among retail PC and console games, massively multiplayer online games, social networks, casual downloadable games, advanced online games and virtual worlds.

About NCsoft Europe
NCsoft Europe (NCE) is headquartered in Brighton, United Kingdom and is wholly-owned subsidiary of Korea-based NCsoft Corporation, the world’s leading developer and publisher of online games. NCsoft operates publishing offices within North America, Japan, Taiwan, China and Thailand and has development studios in Seattle, Austin, California (North America) and Seoul (Korea). NCE recently announced the formation of the first European development studio, based within the UK.

NCE began operations on 1st September 2004 and serves as a central hub for all NCsoft sales, marketing and distribution operations in Europe, via its European distribution network. The company has successfully launched multiple online titles and continues to support its franchises, which include Lineage II (November 2004), City of Heroes® (4th February 2005), Guild Wars (28th April 2005), City of Villains® (31st October 2005), Guild Wars Factions (28th April 2006), Guild Wars Nightfall (27th October 2006), Guild Wars: Eye of the North (31st August 2007) and Richard Garriott’s Tabula Rasa® (2nd November 2007). More information about NCsoft Europe can be found at http://eu.plaync.com

NCsoft, the interlocking NC logo, Tabula Rasa, PlayNC, Lineage, The Kamael, The Chaotic Throne, Hellbound, Guild Wars, Guild Wars Factions, Guild Wars Nightfall, Guild Wars: Eye of the North, City of Heroes and City of Villains and all associated logos and designs are trademarks or registered trademarks of NCsoft Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

About Double Fusion
Double Fusion is the game advertising expert. The company brings together the leading in-game ad serving technology, the broadest network of games across a wide variety of genres, and a sales force that has helped create and evolve the in-game advertising industry.  Double Fusion provides marketers and their advertising agencies with the broadest range of in-game, around-game and web-based solutions with which to engage and sell the valuable and hard-to-reach gamer demographics.  Double Fusion is privately held and headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Jerusalem, London, and Tokyo.  More information on Double Fusion is available at http://www.doublefusion.com

Advertisers interested in opportunities within the Double Fusion network; and developers and publishers interested in increasing their per-title revenues through integrated and dynamic ad placement opportunities should visit http://www.doublefusion.com

Double Fusion is a registered mark of Double Fusion, Inc.
All trademarks, copyrights, registered marks, brand names, registered brand names, product names, and logos found in this press release are the property of their respective owners, may be registered in certain jurisdictions, and are mentioned in this release for identification purposes only.


 

0Posted by Wasabi on 03 Apr at 16:36

Sounds good. Great way to get around the whole paying for big expansions route.

0Posted by Flame Fire on 03 Apr at 16:52

I think this could acturly work.

0Posted by Infurnus on 03 Apr at 19:22

i don’t suppose by making money form adverts we get to paly free do we? rasberry

0Posted by Malfunction on 03 Apr at 21:51

Seems fine to me, as long as its limited to logos/adverts on the loading screens and maybe a replacing a few in-game billboards.

It would be nice if people who play with the advertising switched on get some small benefit… A subscription discount or credit (if the adverts are enabled for sufficient time each month) or at least an in-game badge maybe (Ad Man badge - You have seen 1000 in-game advertisements).

0Posted by Lord DeuxMak on 03 Apr at 22:06

No problem with that.

0Posted by swp21 on 04 Apr at 02:24

This seems like a worhwhile price for updated material and this is one of the few games that it wouldnt look out of place with the world style.

0Posted by GhostRaptor on 04 Apr at 09:56

Hi Infurnus,

The existing subscription won’t be changed. What you will get, however, is more new content included in future Issues due to the extra resources the ad money will make available.

0Posted by FoZ on 04 Apr at 16:06

Sounds great!

This could really add to the urban experience with real billboards and advertising signs

0Posted by TheHyra on 05 Apr at 15:53

seems a worthwhile trade, no adverts relating to the game, and in return we get better update quality, i’d say go for it!

0Posted by brother light on 10 Apr at 14:24

Sounds ok how about sponsorship on our toons that will generate small amounts of inf like in the film mystery men.

0Posted by Undreaming on 15 Apr at 07:08

CoX is one of the few environments that probably wouldn’t be ruined by such ads, and if this helps to add more content to the game - then it’s more than O.K.

However, I wouldn’t want to play a game that is entirely funded by ads - I’d rather pay for a subscription.

Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.