Some of the biggest names are pumping money into trying to elevate video games’ status as a platform so it can hope to compete with online advertising and television. However, despite investments from NBCUniversal, HTC Corp., Elefund and DIP Capital, companies are hesitant to go all-in on in-game advertising. Part of that hesitancy is built on who video gamers are: most still think of teenage boys in their parent’s basement, but the truth is over 80% of gamers are over 18 and more than half are over 35 spanning many demographics. There’s lots of innovation in in-game advertising as traditional pop-up ads between levels exist, but in-game billboards and spaces can be purchased by companies. These advances come with some drawbacks as well. There are legal hurdles that companies face, and the amount of space without users getting bogged down is far smaller than television or scrolling the web.
