Game designers think much differently than advertisers

Understanding the game designer’s point of view and how they build games is important because it gives us a better understanding as advertisers when choosing how to advertise in video games.

Four years ago in an Adage.com article, game developer Kevin Slavin (former ad agency executive) was interviewed. His main argument was how static in-game ads are the least effective way to engage video-game players.

Having an ad on a billboard in a game significantly falls short in effectiveness when compared to the impact of an ad on a billboard in real life. “The model of simply transferring conventional media forms into games is probably not the way we want to go,” says Kevin Slavin. Advertisers are concerned with how to engage their audience but simply placing an ad in an engaging video game does not make the ad effective.

The fundamental difference, according to Slavin, is that games accrue value over time, unlike ad campaigns.

A key point to take note: while advertisers create “objects,” what game designers think about is living systems when they create games. “Game designers make systems, not objects...built around human behavior...unlike other interactive experiences...games are actually modeled in part, around the furthest edges of human experience because part of what you’re doing in a game is trying to find the boundaries of it...” says Slavin.

Putting ad dollars into video games can be a great investment if done right. “The real opportunities for brands is to find ways to communicate what they’re doing through the game itself...in a game, you are doing something...games are engagement, that’s what they are built on,” says Slavin. And he could not have said it any better. For a brand, one way of advertising in a game may be more effective than another and can be completely different than another brand’s way.

Levins, H. (2009, September 30). Game designer who doubts value of in-game advertising. Retrieved from http://adage.com/article/about-digital/game-designer-doubts-game-advertising/139334/