SOE Signs PlanetSide Up For Massive Ad NetworkSOE Signs PlanetSide Up For Massive Ad Network

Officials from in-game ad firm Massive Incorporated have announced that Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) has joined the company’s video game advertising network. SOE’s massively multiplayer online PC action game PlanetSide will now become part of the Massive network, and will begin running in-game billboard ads from mid August. The Massive Network is used to place advertising in video games, with publishers and developers retaining control of where and how the advertising is placed. Other games currently using the network include Funcom's Anarchy Online, which helps subsidize a free-subscription version of its MMO with in-game ad revenue, Ubisoft's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory and other titles including Mall Tycoon. With PlanetSide a relatively long way into its life cycle, SOE are claiming that the ad deal may provide revenue to add otherwise fiscally impractical features to the game, with Louis Figueroa, Director, Business Development, Sony Online Entertainment, commenting: "Realizing another revenue stream in PlanetSide will ultimately be good for the entire PlanetSide community. The additional income will allow us to support the game with continued development and new features that the community has been asking for. Working with Massive's network helps make this possible." As for Massive Inc. itself, the firm recently launched full-motion video and audio ads, as well as launching version 2.5 of its AdServer technology, which makes more complex advertising possible. Despite SOE’s wide range of products, which includes EverQuest II and Star Wars Galaxies, the company has chosen to try out the ad serving on PlanetSide, with the futuristic setting arguably being more apposite for advertisements than the fantasy worlds of EverQuest.