Massive Incorporated was an American

advertising company An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generally ...

that provided software and services to dynamically host advertisements within

video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedbac ...

. Massive Incorporated was purchased by

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

in May 2006 for approximately $200 million to $400 million. The company closed down at the end of 2010.

Service

The service, collectively known as The Massive Network, allows game developers to place advertisements within video games by providing a

software development kit A software development kit (SDK) is a collection of software development tools in one installable package. They facilitate the creation of applications by having a compiler, debugger and sometimes a software framework. They are normally specific ...

(SDK) and

server Server may refer to: Computing *Server (computing), a computer program or a device that provides functionality for other programs or devices, called clients Role * Waiting staff, those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending customers and su ...

s to host advertisements to be streamed to clients when the game is played. The streaming of advertisements allows old advertisements to be removed and more contextual ones applied in their place. Where games such as '' Need For Speed: Most Wanted'' had static advertisements for

Cingular AT&T Mobility LLC, also known as AT&T Wireless and marketed as simply AT&T, is an American telecommunications company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T Inc. and provides wireless services in the United States. AT&T Mobility is the th ...

and

Burger King Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based res ...

, advertisements supplied by a streaming network allow for time-limited ads such as

movie A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

TV show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

posters. Both the publisher and Massive can then continue to make money after the game has been sold. The software is made so as to capture the proper

demographic Demography () is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings. Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups defined by criteria such as edu ...

: it would be a problem to advertise an R-rated movie in a

G-rated The Motion Picture Association film rating system is used in the United States and its territories to rate a motion picture's suitability for certain audiences based on its content. The system and the ratings applied to individual motion picture ...

game or to place advertisements that conflict with a game's

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

. First, placement and layout of the advertisements is planned by the developers with help from Massive. Advertisements can be any

texture Texture may refer to: Science and technology * Surface texture, the texture means smoothness, roughness, or bumpiness of the surface of an object * Texture (roads), road surface characteristics with waves shorter than road roughness * Texture (c ...

, but to maintain realism, advertisements are generally placed on objects such as

poster A poster is a large sheet that is placed either on a public space to promote something or on a wall as decoration. Typically, posters include both typography, textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or w ...

billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

s, storefronts, and other likely media. Massive calls this "''Phase I: Design of the Inventory Elements''." Second, the SDK is integrated with the game to act as a client to Massive's ad servers. It allows the game to fetch the ad, display it on a surface, and analyze how the player acts around it. Massive refers to this as "''Phase II: Integration of the Software Development Kit (SDK)''." Third is self-explanatory, "''Phase III: Testing & Support''." These are the

software testing Software testing is the act of examining the artifacts and the behavior of the software under test by validation and verification. Software testing can also provide an objective, independent view of the software to allow the business to apprecia ...

and

deployment Deployment may refer to: Engineering and software Concepts * Blue-green deployment, a method of installing changes to a web, app, or database server by swapping alternating production and staging servers * Continuous deployment, a software en ...

steps.

References

"In-game ads go PlanetSide"
by Corey Brotherson, ''Eurogamer.net'', September 8, 2005, retrieved June 3, 2006

External links

Massive Incorporated
website before it was closed.
NPR broadcast
on Massive Incorporated and in-game advertising in general.
Digital In Game Advertising (DIGA) discussion forum

http://nationalcheeseemporium.org/
- Contains a detailed review of the advertising technology Massive used in

SWAT 4 ''SWAT 4'' is a 2005 tactical shooter video game developed by Irrational Games and published by Sierra Entertainment ( Vivendi Universal Games) exclusively for Microsoft Windows. It was built on Irrational Games' Vengeance Engine powered by Unr ...

patch 1.1. {{Microsoft Advergaming companies Companies based in New York City Defunct software companies of the United States Former Microsoft subsidiaries

Service

See also

References

External links