Every moment that we spent as children was a privilege. After finishing our annual exams, we were all glued to the TV playing video games. The 999,999 in 1 cartridge was like our trump card. While some of them never woke up till noon, some stepped out to play before sunrise and came home only after sunset. It was one game after the other. Be it outdoor or indoor games, unless it was a toilet break, we never let go of the game.
Cut to, 2020! Imagine, while you’re in the middle of crossing the most difficult level in a video game and a pop-up ad appears asking you to subscribe to their anti-virus software! You fail the level and you have to start all over again… Quite infuriating, right? In-game advertising has evolved over time.
Level 1: Primer Time
Just like every game has different levels to reach the “Boss Level”, let’s hope this article feels like one. PLAYER ONE, READY? Well, advertising in games has always been a potential market. The lockdown further amplified the user base as people staying home, downloaded more and more video games. The number of people playing mobile games touched peak was reached somewhere in late April, as people played games 62% longer compared with the number of hours spent during the pre-COVID period in January 2020.
This indicates that when the pandemic had put on a game face, people played along, quite positively. Because, the gaming industry as a whole, turned out to be resilient and displayed reasonable growth. The first quarter of 2020 registered whopping 13 billion new downloads. That’s a staggering number, to begin with. In-game advertising is certainly heading towards a potential market. But, is there just one type of advertising in games? Well, let’s find out.
The Avatars of In-Game Advertising
Speaking about accomplishing maximum results with in-game advertising, it can be done in ways more than one. There are nearly 8 types of in-game advertising that can help businesses earn more profits.
Static Ads: These ads are built into the game itself and have no scope of updating them according to future trends. These are like ads that are placed in the movies.
Dynamic Ads: Unlike static ads, dynamic ads can be updated in real-time. This ad format is fundamentally programmable and is ideally a great choice for advertisers. This particular ad is further classified into various other types:
Interstitial Ads: These are basically full-screen ads that lay over the interface of the app. These ads work at their best in between the game when there’s a pause, break or level change. These ads are designed in such a way that they do not interfere with your gaming experience.
Native Banners: These ad banners can be considered as one of the least intrusive ads. They seamlessly blend into the gameplay and don’t interrupt the user experience. These ads simply hover over one side of the screen.
Contextual Ads: These ads are displayed based on the user preferences of content consumption. The logical application of this type of ad is more sophisticated in games.
Rewarded Ads: Advertisers have found a rewarding way to deal with players who are frustrated by ads. When the player is rewarded with virtual currency, in-game reward points, they tend to play on. This type of ad is quite resource-consuming as the advertiser has to give away freebies & goodies to get the expected results.
Expandable Ads: These kinds of ads interrupt the gaming experience while they pop up in between the game. However, if the implementation of these ads is done properly, it can provide an immersive and effective experience.
In-Game Video Ads: In-game advertising these days is adopting to mainstream and video ads are quite common. These ads need to be placed carefully without interrupting the experience.
Advergaming: In simple terms, this is a type of ‘branded’ in-game advertising tailor-made to promote a particular brand, company, product or service.
Now that we know the distinctive ways to advertising in-game, are we game for it? Only time will tell.
At 3 Dots Design Pvt. Ltd., it is our innate character to keep up with the latest trends in digital marketing. Being one of the top digital marketing agencies in Pune and one of the best ad agencies in Pune, we offer the best digital marketing and branding solutions. Do we also do in-game advertising? Well, if you ask for it, we’re Game ON!