Let the Video Game Ads Begin!

Pow! Bam! Whap! Watch out! Here comes a hot new ad space!
Video-game advertising comprises a number of different segments, and they are all seeing plenty of action.

Overall, eMarketer projects that US in-game advertising spending will increase from $295 million in 2007 to $650 million in 2012.



In-game advertising spending is buoyed by a vibrant video game industry that is enjoying unprecedented growth. eMarketer projects that video game software and hardware sales will increase to $21 billion in 2012.



”At a time when other sectors of the digital entertainment industry are struggling with lagging sales and rampant piracy, the US video game business is booming,” says Paul Verna, eMarketer Senior Analyst and author of the new report, Video Game Advertising report.

As evidence of the vitality of the game industry, an average of nine games were sold every second of every day in 2007, according to the Entertainment Software Association (ESA).

”To compare video games to other media,” says Mr. Verna, “the top-selling video-game title of the year, ‘Halo 3,’ took in more revenue on its first day of sales than the biggest opening weekend ever for a movie, ‘Spider Man 3,’ and even the final Harry Potter book’s first-day sales.”

In addition, comScore reported that video games, consoles and accessories was the top e-commerce growth category in the US in the second and third quarters of 2007, as well as during the peak holiday shopping period of the fourth quarter.

”The biggest online retailer, Amazon.com, reported its best holiday season ever in 2007 and attributed its success to the Nintendo Wii console,” says Mr. Verna.

Long gone are the days when video games were the domain solely of teenage boys. The category is hot—because eyeballs of all ages are there.

”Today, avid and casual gamers fall into a broadening array of demographic profiles,” says Mr. Verna. “They might include middle-aged men who live out their latent rock and roll fantasies by playing ‘Guitar Hero,’ married women who get together with their friends to play Wii Table Tennis or retirees who play online board games with their grandchildren.”

It is no wonder that advertisers want to play, too.

To learn how to take your message to the next level, download the new eMarketer report, Video Game Advertising, today.