Gamers Buy Into In-Game Ads

According to a new study by comScore Media Metrix that focused on gamers, a wide range of gamers are open to in-game advertising. That's good news for the game industry, which is focusing heavily on in-game ads with always-on next gen gaming platforms. Microsoft's recent purchase of Massive shows just how big this once-niche outreach is to console gaming. Xbox Live will incorporate a full range of in-game ads and product placement for its games. Games like 2K Sports' "Major League Baseball 2K6" already incorporate Massive ads into the Xbox Live component. Companies like Double Fusion are also rising to the occasion to target the ever elusive 18 to 34 year-old male gaming demographic. The following is a rundown of some of the key findings from the comScore study.

comScore's new study, called "The Players" study, is part of an on-going effort to map out the likes and dislikes, as well as the backgrounds and demographics, of today's gamers. The first of several waves of this study was conducted between February 13 and 27 through a survey of 800 gamers. Additional waves will be conducted throughout the year.

According to the study, videogame sites (like IGN.com and Gamespot.com) reach almost half of the Internet universe. This segment has grown from 71.6 million consumers last April to 76.9 this April. This explains why Fox purchased IGN.com and why popular gaming sites like GameDaily.com are rumored to be of interest to other media giants.

The study found that one-quarter of all gamers are "heavy gamers," which means they play 16 or more hours per week on any gaming patform, or 11-plus hours a week across multiple game consoles. "Light gamers" make up a whopping 75 percent of all gamers. These more mainstream gamers play less than 16 hours a week on one game console. While the game industry focuses on "heavy gamers" to sell PlayStation 3s at $600 a pop, it's the "light gamers" that offer real growth potential for gaming well intro the pop culture mainstream (with the potential to delve further than we've already seen). It's this market that Nintendo is aiming its Wii at.

The Players research found that approximately 17 percent of Gamers are in the hard-to-reach age group of 18 to 24 year olds, while another 23 percent are in the advertising sweet-spot age segment aged 35 to 44 years old.  One-in-five gamers have an annual income over $75,000 per year, and the typical gamer has been gaming for about nine years and has been online for about eight years. Gamers are equally split along gender lines, which shows that female gamers (of all ages) are a growing demographic.

When asked about their attitudes towards games with advertisements, only 15 percent of heavy gamers claimed they would be "unlikely" to play games that included such product placements.  In contrast, more than twice as many heavy gamers (33 percent), said they would be "likely" to play those games, while fully 52 percent of heavy gamers and 56 percent of light gamers stated that the inclusion of advertising would have no impact on their likelihood of playing a game.

While poorly integrated in-game ads may have the potential to diminish the quality of game-play, 35 percent of heavy gamers disagreed with the statement "these ads interrupt my play and bother me."  Nearly half of heavy gamers felt that in-game advertising was an inevitable part of the future of their play. When asked if the ads would make them consider buying the product or service, heavy gamers were actually more receptive (17 percent) than light gamers (9 percent).

Gamers are also avid Web users, spending more than twice as many hours online per month versus the norm (53 hours per month versus 24 hours for the average Internet user).  Additionally, heavy gamers go online more frequently during the month, averaging 24 days compared to the average Internet user who typically goes online 17 days per month.