Gaming has rapidly grown over the last five decades and currently it is among the top methods of entertainment worldwide. Today, personal computers are more affordable and many people are looking into gaming. The report released by the intelligence gaming company, SuperData Research, revealed that the market for digital games increased by 8 percent from 2014 to $ 61 billion by the end of 2017. Several changes have been witnessed in the gaming industry ranging from definition, perception, hardware, styles of play to playing environments. Gameplay in the 21st century is no longer a niche arena for children but it has become a viable form of entertainment for people from all backgrounds and ages (Ermi " Mäyrä, 2005). Apart from serving as a form of entertainment, online games are major sources of revenue for both individuals and the government not only Australia but globally.
There are two basic types of gaming namely casual and professional gaming. In professional gaming, players compete against one another from the title and money while casual gaming is primarily for entertainment and acquisition of creativity and graphical theatrics as the players engage with high-performance games. In the modern world, in-game marketing and product placement is an essential feature of the online game and all people who have played video games in the past few years have a deep understanding of how immersive they have become. Some of the in-game advertisements are usually integrated into the game via background display whereas others appear when the game loads or specifically at cut-scenes (Yang et al, 2006). According to Ferrazzi et. al, (2003), the increase in the number of people playing video games across the world has attracted the interest of marketers to capitalize on such audience by integrating advertisements and special offers for the product and services in games. This research paper provides a detailed critique of in-game marketing and product placement with Judge Dredd: Dredd Versus Death as the reference game.
Dredd Vs Death
Dredd V Death is a video game developed by Rebellion Developments and first released in 2003 in Europe (Fischer, 2004). There are two main player modes permissible in Dredd vs Death with the first being single player and the second as multiple player. The single-player mode consists of eleven levels where the gamer assumes the role of Judge Dredd and battles a number of criminals and undead vampires in multiple battlegrounds.
Dredd Versus Death is among the top video games with most advertisements in YouTube and as well as in the game. Different consumers of games have different perceptions regarding the in-game advertisements; some argue that they cause distractions from the immersive experience of the gameplay. Personally, I do not mind advertisements that are stationary in a game and feel like these adverts have more good than harm to the game player. I totally disagree that in-game advertising interferes with the game player’s experience of the game. I feel so because various reasons that I will explore in this essay.
Firstly, contextual product placement in video game increases the player’s realism to a virtual world. (Abrudan, 2009). The statement is true for the product advertisement set at the appropriate location within the game such that they do not come as surprises to the player. For example, Dredd V Dead game is video game where the characters in the game are involved in hard battles and seems to spend many calories; incorporating Red Bull branding advertisements at such locations brings a lot of authenticity to the game. Red Bull is a drink with high energy content and therefore the product placement in this specific computer game becomes completely relevant and thus increases the gamer’s immersive experience with Dredd V Dead first shooter video game. In this case, the Red Bull ads are never regarded as an annoyance to the game player but as a natural component of the Dredd V Dead game since the battles involve massive use of energies.
Another point to consider is that the in-game recruitment advertisements give players to engage their suitability for a particular job opportunity. Usually, specific skill-sets for the job are incorporated at various areas of the dame such as before moving to the next level of the game. A good example, in this case, is the Government Communication Headquarters of the United Kingdom which has been using in-game marketing and product placement to promote career opportunities among its citizens for approximately the last seven years ("GCHQ Site", 2018). It has achieved this by incorporating streamlined video banners and posters to interact with gamers as they become more immersed in the game. Quite an impressive number of technology and security experts in the UK landed their jobs through the in-game recruitment advertisements created by the Government Communication Headquarters and therefore in such cases, the ads are beneficial to the players then causing distractions.
In addition, in-game marketing and product placement may reduce the game prize for game players. Some video games are offered for free while others are prized by their specific developers. For instance, the license for playing Dread vs Death must be purchased from its developers. Integrating product advertisements in the game means the respective company has to meet the cost of such ads. For example, when Red Bull advertised within the Judge Dredd’s shooter game, the company had to pay for such advertisements and therefore the cost of purchasing the game slightly reduced. Many players by nature would enjoy playing games which they have spent the reasonable amount in acquiring and hence by having the knowledge about the role of the advertisement on the final prize of the game, such product placement will indeed be a source of happiness rather than a distraction to the gamer. The number of hours a player spend in playing a particular game in a cyber café is proportional to the charges imposed on the game and thus many players enjoy playing cheap games for long hours.
According to Isabella and James (2004), in-game advertising does not cause distraction from the immersion the player is always looking for, especially when the advertisement enables the gamer to earn more points to move to the next stage of the game. Product placements that assist the player to acquire extra equipment, earn more lives or ammunition are most welcomed by the game players. Because such in-game ads act as enablers to the player, they strengthen the advertisers’ relationship with the gaming audience and finally allow the gamer to have a deeper experience of the gameplay. An example is given by the Red Bulls adverts in Dredd Versus Death game where players who need help to reach the next level of the game only have to welcome the Red Bull Brand assistance.
The stage at which the product is placed in a game plays a vital role in players’ ability to immersive experience the gameplay. According to Nabenzah and Secunda (1993), the best place to incorporate a product an advertisement is not within the first few minutes of the play but during transitional stages when the player has completed a level and is feeling happy and pleased with his success. At this stage, there is a high probability that the player might be more open and willing to watch the advert since it appears to cause zero distraction to him. The concept has been enhanced by the game technology of creating commercial breaks within video games. When brand messages are popped up during these commercial breaks, especially during scenarios where the player has been playing the game for long, they become less distractive but instead may improve the mood of the gamer towards the gameplay. The Coca-Cola brand messages interestingly appear between the game levels of the Dredd Vs Death shooter game. Such advertisements appear to be appropriate and interesting because they come immediately after completion of a given game level and the next level is in the loading process. They are sincere of no distraction to the immersive experience of the gameplay.
As a matter of fact, in-game marketing and product placement can never be a source of distraction and annoyance especially when the advertisement is focusing on product offers and the brand is viewed as natural part of that particular game. Video game players also serve as customers to other products and therefore as much as they spend part of their time in playing video games, they would also want to know what products are on offer in the market. It is partly true that the highest percentage of people who play casual games come from households with low and average income and therefore may not be able to afford expensive products in the market as is the case with the wealthy. Products on offer are usually traded at generally lower prices due to various commercial reasons. A good proportion of consumers will always want to minimize expenses in order to save for future use and thus in-game advertisements carefully aimed at making product offers are most welcomed by the players and never viewed as intrusive.
Equally important, in-game marketing and product placements that display a high degree of relevancy and appear to not only consume the players time but also offers something of reasonable value to the player are hardly distractive. When the brand messages seem to offer something new to the consumer of the game, then, of course, it will receive a warm reception and it can never be viewed as a source of disruption to the immersive experience of the gameplay. Though not available on Dredd Vs Death shooter game, a good example, in this case, is the sponsorship of the Drama Misfits by the telecommunication company Nokia ("Nokia Corporation", 2018). The company had an online game that they used to engage with the players on the new Nokia brands and prizes. In such situations where the in-game advertisements make the players learn something new that of greater advantage to them, they can never be distracted by the immersive experience of the gameplay by the player.
On the contrary, numerous scholars and researchers have argued that in-game marketing and product placement deter from the whole immersion that the game player is usually looking for while playing video games. They claim that experiencing gameplay is all about immersion and flow and when ads pop up unexpectedly when playing games it interferes with the player's concentration in the game as well causing disruptions. According to Nelson et al, (2004) most video game players get annoyed when they come across commercials even during the game level transition periods. Some players believe that in-game advertisements may increase the risk if game freezing which is the worst nightmare for game players. When a game freezes it means that the video game character cannot move and therefore the game cannot proceed. In such scenarios, the player has to shut down the game and the devastating part of it is that all the progress made previously is lost.
The presence of in-game advertisements which are not relevant to the game distracts the players from experiencing the game (Lee " Faber, 2007). An advertisement that does not go with the flow of the game becomes irrelevant and prevents game players from enjoying the game. The relevancy of the advertisement should be in terms of age group, timing and the type of product. For example, a Coca-Cola advertisement in the Dredd Versus Death game may be inappropriate because this is war game where the player is battling for victory and it Coca-Cola does not equate to war strategy games.
Likewise, excessive advertisement pop ups inside the game deter the gamers from acquiring full experience of the game. Playing games with too many advertisements prevent the player from enjoying the game making him feel as if he is playing the adverts yet he is already bombarded with ads in almost the whole dimension of his life. Again when the ads are excessive, complex and unclear, they will distract the player from the real graphics of the game (Barnett et al., 2018). On the same note, blatant and giant in-game posters and billboards are great sources of distraction and many game players get bothered by such ads. There is also a feeling that of intrusion when it comes to in-game marketing and product placement where some players believe that, placing ads inside the game is a form invasion and this slows down their gameplay and sometimes feels like not playing the game anymore.
In conclusion, I strongly believe that in-game advertising does not have much negative effects on the player’s experience of the game. This is because it is a good thing for sports and truly speaking, in the modern world, advertisements are everywhere be it at work, in city, towns, televisions, along roadsides, everywhere. Although it may cause some little distractions to the game player, such distractions can be minimized by strictly adhering to the effective in-game advertisement and product placement requirements and expectations. Dredd Vs Death as discussed in this research paper is among the video games with most advertisements but this has not deterred people from playing the game. I know sometimes it might be hectic to embrace the benefits of in-game ads especially when they come at times when the player is at the peak of the game. My advice to all game players is that, please have positive attitudes towards the in-game ads because they are coming.
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