Posted Oct 3, 2022, 6:05 PMUpdated Oct 3, 2022, 6:42 PM
It’s a small step for Roblox and a new chapter for advertising in video games. From 2023, this “sandbox” title – where the player has no specific objective but can freely navigate in persistent universes created by other “gamers” – will offer advertisers the opportunity to distill formats advertisements in several of its virtual worlds. Until then, this title with a very “metaversian” dimension allowed its creators-players to insert advertisements in their own universes. For the first time, Roblox will now structure a major advertising offer – which it will pilot itself directly with the major brands – which is destined to become a new source of income.
A natural step for this game which is based on the economic model of “free-to-play” (accessible for free) and brings together an audience of 58.5 million players daily, especially children and young adolescents. This has not escaped the notice of the big brands – which struggle to communicate with this age group via more traditional media – which should not fail to invest in Roblox.
“Advertisers are increasingly in demand for these types of games, which are also metaverse like Fortnite or GTA RP [un mode multijoueurs où les « gamers » incarnent tous un personnage avec un rôle précis, NDLR]and want to be present through special operations or the creation of game-specific content”, lists Pierre Acuña, head of gaming and e-sport at Havas Play.
A growing market
Publicis, Dentsu, Havas: in recent months, several major media agencies have launched or recalibrated and beefed up their devices for video games. These are not the only ones to take a stand. “Hit” adtech stock exchange, The Trade Desk has recently strengthened its teams in terms of “gaming” and says it is aiming for the milestone of 100 million dollars in annual revenue within five years on the video game market.
A rush that can be explained. Still in its infancy, this segment of the video game industry should accelerate strongly in the years to come. Last year, video game advertising brought in $6.71 billion in revenue, according to Vantage Market Research according to whom the annual growth of this segment should be in double digits over the next few years, reaching 12.35 billion by 2028.
Cautious publishers
“Brands have never missed an audience crossroads and video games are a medium with nearly 3 billion players worldwide. But barriers still exist. Today, advertisers are still afraid that their spots will end up in universes that do not correspond to their brand values, such as violent games, via syndication”, notes Guillaume Monteux, head of adtech Gadsme, specializing in marketing and placement of advertising in games.
“On the publishers’ side, the barrier is technical because inserting advertising requires having integrated it very early in the production of the game or having a specific development kit in order to avoid bugs when you display an advertisement. Not to mention that almost no video game group has a management,” continues the one whose start-up is particularly intended to connect major brands and publishers.
Above all, game creators walk on eggshells. The reason: the most seasoned players can be very reluctant to advertise. Two years ago, Electronic Arts suffered a high-profile “bad buzz” for inserting it into its MMA title “UFC 4”. This was displayed in full screen and was inserted between the end of a slow motion and the resumption of a fight, a format deemed too intrusive by the players who had, moreover, paid full price ($60) for this game.
The example of FIFA
“We have already been approached to insert advertisements in our games but nothing satisfactory for the moment. We are not closing the door, but we will only do so if it reinforces the realism and the immersive side of the game”, notes Vincent Chataignier, commercial director at the French publisher Focus Entertainment, who is thinking in particular of advertising panels along roads from SnowRunner, an off-road driving simulation franchise. In the sector of games for consoles and PC, the typical example of perfectly integrated and accepted advertising is that of the football game FIFA, which lends itself perfectly to this with the advertising boards arranged around the pitch in stadiums all over the world.
On the manufacturer side, the lines are also moving; PlayStation (Sony) or Xbox (Microsoft) would consider allowing developers of “free-to-play” games to integrate advertising media into their titles on their consoles, the American press believes. An evolution that would be major for the sector. Meanwhile, in the world of mobile, where the vast majority of games are free and where advertising has been an integral part of the model for a long time, publishers are looking to reinvent and maximize it.
“Today, a majority of advertisements are still spots for other games. The challenge for mobile publishers is to interest brands from other universes, ”explains Alexandre Tan, head of advertising at French Gameloft, a major mobile player who says he has arrived at a 50/50 split. between “gaming” and more general advertisers. Last week, the Vivendi-owned group launched “COMBO! The Gaming Media Network”, an alliance bringing together several mobile game publishers organizing themselves into a unified advertising network. “Our desire is to show advertisers that mobile gaming can be a performance medium,” concludes the manager.
