Exent Launches AdMuse In-Game Embeddables

Content delivery software company Exent is touting its AdMuse technology as a way for advertisers and marketers to embed new objects into games during the production cycle or post-installation without changing game code. Demonstrating the technology, Exent announced a partnership with online game community Xfire to announce an in-game treasure hunt tournament around Call of Duty 2, using Exent's AdMuse technology. Using AdMuse, Xfire and Exent have inserted secret codes inside of various map textures in Call of Duty 2 without altering the source code, to allow all the game's users to participate in the treasure-hunting event. Users who play through CoD2's first five missions and locate the secret codes are entered into a drawing to win a copy of Call of Duty 4. Gamasutra followed up with Exent on the demonstration, confirming that Activision had indeed given permission for this changing of the game's assets, which raises some interesting issues from an art and creativity point of view. Exent CEO Zvi Levgoren explained, "Advertising sponsored video game events are a very powerful way to reach young, coveted demographics. However, development costs are high and there is no guarantee that the end product is something people will want to play. With AdMuse, there is no need for game developer involvement, and one can create such promotions to existing, active install bases, rather than bet on the attractiveness of a new advergame."