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Pepsi Online
Nov 23, 2005 13:13:00

We all knew it was coming. Sony announced that the Matrix Online would become a virtual billboard in an upcoming release.
"An exciting new addition is coming to the world of The Matrix Online. As part of Update 38 we will be introducing Massive in-game advertising to The Matrix Online.

Real-world advertisements will begin appearing on billboards around the Mega City. Just like real-world billboards, they?ll change to feature new advertisements over time. These static advertisements will not affect game performance in any way.

The inclusion of Massive in-game advertising opens up the possibility of something many community members have been asking for, player advertising around Mega City."
It's exciting? For who? Sony, I'm sure, is darn excited by the increased revenue.
Community members have been asking for it? Can that actually be true?

I'll admit that this has been a long time in the making. We all expected it and the Matrix Online is absolutely the best venue for this since the Matrix is supposed to model our current world. For this reason it makes sense in this particular game. However, I fear that this may eventually reach into corners of our virgin worlds where it doesn't belong. Will the next Everquest expansion include an excursion to the peak of Mount Dew? Will Dominoes Pizza delivery griffins be seen speeding along the landscape in World of Warcraft (to compete with the Everquest2-Pizzahut alliance)? Can our EQ2 guilds possibly beat Terrorantula without help from Pfizer?

Only time will tell.

Marketing in MMORPGs

Submitted by Brent on Nov 23, 2005 13:13:00 CST (comments: 0)

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