Casual gamers play along with in-game ads

Nine out of 10 casual gamers would be happy to watch video ads before and during natural breaks in games in exchange for free game play, according to a survey by RealNetworks.

Additionally, 34 per cent of the 1,500 casual gamers polled said that they would click on in-game advertisements to learn more about the advertised product or service.

"We have been evolving our customer sales model based on user feedback since we created in-game streaming video advertising in the PC casual games space in 2006," said Chris Houtzer, senior director of new media at RealGames.

"The right mix of advertising in our games gives us greater flexibility in providing advanced game-play options for our customers, sharing in incremental revenue with game developers, and delivering a competitive return on investment for advertisers."
Houtzer added that the survey is a testament to the success of new business models in the industry.

The survey revealed that, in exchange for free games, 55 per cent of respondents would watch any ad regardless of the topic, while an additional third would prefer to watch ads that are relevant to their needs.

Furthermore, nearly a third of game players surveyed said that they actually like watching the video ads for various reasons, including the relevance of the ads to their needs and the short break from game play that the ads provide.

When given a choice of product and service types, more than 50 per cent of respondents chose entertainment activities like movies or music.

Hair and skin care products received 30 per cent of the nods, followed closely by home-cleaning and weight loss products.

A recent report by Yankee Group predicted that the global in-game advertising market will grow from $77.7m in 2006 to $971.3m by 2011.