Survey: British (male) gamers not peeved by in-game ads
The prevalence of in-game advertisement in interactive entertainment may not be a catalyst for waning interest, after all. According to a survey conducted by GameSpot UK and the Internet Advertising Bureau, only 14 percent of those questions said in-game ads "spoiled the gaming experience."
Female opinion was a statistical anomaly, however, as 98 percent of the participants reportedly male, 76 percent within the ages of 13 and 24, and most owning multiple consoles and playing more than ten hours a week. We feel confident labeling the pool of voices the hardcore gamer crowd. However, we're also betting that this is the crowd most likely to be averse to in-game marketing.
Forty percent said that ads added realism to the game, while 33 percent said they didn't even notice the ads. Though just 28 percent felt the advertisement affected the brand, 64 percent of those felt it was a positive effect.
Most important to the advertisers, at this point one-third of those surveyed were "very or quite likely to buy a product that they had seen advertised in game." The survey was completed by 3,575 gamers based in the UK, advertised on GameSpot's page between June 20 and July 11 this year.
