[casual_games] Advergaming

Wed Apr 12 16:26:15 EDT 2006

Apples _ Advergames funded by a corporate client

Oranges - Ingame Advertising - included in a game 
and providing ancillary revenue to developer

With Apples it is the client's problem to get the 
game out there.  Usually through their own 
channels - for example the little games that go 
on movie sites to provide additional content when 
folks come looking for info on the film.

With Oranges, (as I understand it) if your game 
does not have decent perpetration, IA is 
meaningless because without strong sales you are 
not able to deliver the necessary "eyeballs" to 
get a decent earn through.  If I have this part 
wrong, please elucidate Lennard.

Tom B

At 03:26 PM 4/12/2006, you wrote:
>If asked to define "advergaming" then I would 
>agree with your definition.   I looked at Jonas' 
>blog and company site and felt that this is an 
>alternative he, and others like him who might 
>not get picked up by Massive, should know about.
>
>There are a few problems with the business of 
>advergaming from the developers point of 
>view.  The first is meeting the advertiser who 
>can actually afford real development time to 
>build something credible - 10K doesn't typically 
>build you a compelling interactive experience 
>but a lot of the advertisers you talk to will 
>talk about knocking out something like Zuma, but 
>better (of course), in a month or two.  The 
>tweak time with those green clients is going to 
>cost you a lot of the 10K if you are paying a 
>real engineers salary (not to mention the 
>producer to interface).  The second is that most 
>of us would like to still get the profits from 
>the games we make - in fact most of us are in 
>this space because we don't want to work for 
>corporations - we just want more $ for the games 
>we make and streaming ads can enable that.
>
> From the advertisers point of view there are a 
> couple of problems as well.  The first is that 
> you need to lay out your cash on an unknown 
> quantity - you don't know when your game will 
> be completed and what the quality will be once 
> done.  Insert software engineering schedule 
> jokes here.  Secondly, just to grab #'s, let's 
> say you lay out 75K for a small team to build 
> you a product over the course of 6 
> months.  Once it's done, and you've gotten your 
> feet wet as an external producer, then you 
> still need to actually get the thing 
> distributed - non-trivial if you don't have a 
> portal network.  Somehow you get the game 
> distributed for another 25K and get 100K 
> downloads.  You, the advertiser, have paid a 
> dollar per game play if all of the if's above have been answered.
>
>You don't have to use IA to enable this kind of 
>system.  A streaming server isn't that hard to 
>whack together.  The thing about using IA is 
>that we don't take an exorbitant amount of the 
>cash, we are working to build a network so that 
>those games that under or over perform have more 
>of a chance of actually meeting the advertisers 
>needs (trying to meet the ebb and flow of game 
>play with a single title is tricky) and you 
>don't have to do the really time consuming thing - actually selling the ads.
>
>My 2 cents,
>
>Lennard Feddersen
>CEO, Rusty Axe Games, Inc.
>www.RustyAxe.com
>
>Lennard at RustyAxe.com
>P. 250-635-7623 F. 1-309-422-2466
>3521 Dogwood, Terrace, BC, Canada, V8G-4Y7
>
>
>
>James C. Smith wrote:
>
>>I am confused. I though "Advergaming" generally referred to games that were
>>custom built (or reskinned) to promote a specific product or brand.  For
>>example, Energizer would commission a game developer to make a game
>>featuring the Energizer bunny.  It wouldn't be a game with an Energizer ad
>>in it. It would be a whole game all about Energizer.  Isn't streaming
>>billboard ads into a game a completely different subject than Advergaming?
>>
>>I don't want to debate the vocabulary and semantics. I just want to make
>>sure Jónas gets advice on the topic he is interested in.
>>
>>--James
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: casual_games-bounces at igda.org [mailto:casual_games-bounces at igda.org]
>>On Behalf Of Lennard Feddersen
>>Sent: Wednesday, April 12, 2006 11:00 AM
>>To: IGDA Casual Games SIG Mailing List
>>Subject: Re: [casual_games] Advergaming
>>
>>
>>Anybody who is interested in this topic can email me directly as well.
>>I started Integrated Ads last year - 
>>www.IntegratedAds.com - with the goal of 
>>enabling casual game developers to ad. enable 
>>their games after or late in development with a 
>>minimum of dev. effort (link in a static 
>>library, make 3 calls, display 1 image).  You 
>>can see the system in use if you download the 
>>Battle Castles demo from www.RustyAxe.com.  I 
>>read the indie gamer forums every day and do 
>>the math.  From the #'s being reported,  there 
>>are a lot of indie developers who aren't making 
>>enough $ to get by on. I believe that 
>>advertising can play a bigger role in our 
>>industry segment since we give away so much 
>>content in the form of free demos and reduced 
>>cost games.  Both the Battle Castles demo and a 
>>reduced cost version of BC ship with 
>>advertising - players can still buy a premium 
>>cost version with ads removed.  I've recently 
>>been looking at the Arcade In A Box forums and 
>>a lot of gamers there felt disappointed that 
>>they had to pay $20 for a casual game (I know, 
>>tough cookies) and I've often had the same 
>>thought when I see the dev. $ we sink into a 
>>title versus those of premium companies.  There 
>>are a lot of games at my local Staples at the 
>>$20 price point that costs millions to develop 
>>- including Diablo, Warcraft and Baldurs Gate 
>>gamer packs and it's obvious to me why a lot of 
>>titles in our space aren't making their $ back.
>>These may be viable gaming experiences that are 
>>getting play.  The answer may well be to ad. advertising.
>>
>>Lennard Feddersen
>>CEO, Rusty Axe Games, Inc.
>>www.RustyAxe.com
>>
>>Lennard at RustyAxe.com
>>P. 250-635-7623 F. 1-309-422-2466
>>3521 Dogwood, Terrace, BC, Canada, V8G-4Y7
>>
>>
>>
>>Thomas H. Buscaglia wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>>I recommend putting together a portfolio demonstrating your studios
>>>game capabilities and sending to every ad 
>>>agency you could find...then let them tell you 
>>>want they want...and all you have to do is 
>>>tell them how much.  Direct pitching to end 
>>>users (the companies that actually use the 
>>>advergaming) is way too difficult and besides 
>>>they all already have ad agencies that they 
>>>rely on to do this sort of thing.  So all you 
>>>really need in a few internal advocates within 
>>>the agencies.  And hip gamers who already "get 
>>>it" in terms of the value of interactive 
>>>multimedia as a marketing tool are in those positions already.
>>>
>>>Tom B
>>>
>>>At 01:10 PM 4/12/2006, you wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>Hi.
>>>>I was wondering what companies would be considered as "leading
>>>>experts" in Advergaming? I need some advice 
>>>>since the concept isn't something I deal with 
>>>>on a regular basis and, thus, do not exactly 
>>>>know how to "pitch" properly. What are the 
>>>>"selling points", who should I consider as primary "targets" for an idea, etc.
>>>>What do you generally think of Adwaregaming? Is it a "dirty" field or
>>>>something that is going to grow and get 
>>>>better? Do games and advertising mix well?
>>>>Some background on my thoughts can be found here:
>>>>www.jonasantonsson.com 
>>>><http://www.jonasantonsson.com/>. Basically I 
>>>>have an idea that would be rather expensive 
>>>>to implement. My gut feeling tells me that 
>>>>the idea is well suited for advergaming if I 
>>>>could pitch it to the right people and with the right points.
>>>>Regards,
>>>>Jónas Antonsson
>>>>CEO, Gogogic
>>>>jonas at gogogic.com
>>>>www.gogogic.com <http://www.gogogic.com/>
>>>>
>>>>www.jonasantonsson.com <http://www.jonasantonsson.com/> <
>>>>http://www.jonasantonsson.com <http://www.jonasantonsson.com/>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>_______________________________________________
>>>>Casual_Games mailing list
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>>>¤º°`°º¤,¸¸,¤º°`°º¤¤º°`°º¤,¸¸,¤º°`°º¤
>>>Thomas H. Buscaglia, Esquire
>>>The Game Attorney
>>>T. H. Buscaglia and Associates
>>>80 Southwest 8th Street
>>>Suite 2100 - Brickell Bayview Center
>>>Miami, FL  33130
>>>Tel (305) 324-6000
>>>Fax (305) 324-1111
>>>Toll Free 888-848-GLAW
>>>http://www.gameattorney.com
>>><http://www.gameattorney.com/> ¤º°`°º¤,¸¸,¤º°`°º¤¤º°`°º¤,¸¸,¤º°`°º¤
>>>
>>>
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>>>
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¤º°`°º¤,¸¸,¤º°`°º¤¤º°`°º¤,¸¸,¤º°`°º¤
Thomas H. Buscaglia, Esquire
The Game Attorney
T. H. Buscaglia and Associates
80 Southwest 8th Street
Suite 2100 - Brickell Bayview Center
Miami, FL  33130
Tel (305) 324-6000
Fax (305) 324-1111
Toll Free 888-848-GLAW
http://www.gameattorney.com
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Confidential:  This email contains communications 
protected by the attorney-client privilege.  If 
you do not expect such a communication from 
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