It’s like NASCAR, but in video games. Product placement is the weird feature in games that “breaks the fourth wall” as they say. It puts real world products into our otherwise fictitious virtual worlds. I remember the first time I ever caught a glimpse of an ad for a real product, I was playing Homefront (2011), and I saw a vending machine with the energy drink Full Throttle displayed on every other level it seemed. I thought it was cool at the time, and I still believe, despite some gamer’s feelings towards them, ad placement can do some amount of good for the modern gamer.
I know that when you first hear about product placement, you might scoff at the idea. It does seem like a sellout move for a game publisher, but I believe there can be positivity to come out of it. Think about certain games of service titles out there, instead of charging players real money for every DLC you add to the game, why not give companies the option to purchase ad placement to be put into your game? Then you can make your DLC much cheaper, or even free for that matter. Most everyone will agree that free DLC is an instant way to make gamers appreciate what you are doing.
I said a while back, in a previous article about NBA 2K, that 2K should look into implementing a games of service style for their NBA game that has been dipping in sales over the past few years. I believe that 2K could use product placement to make this change a much more viable option. It could be like a real NBA stadium, with ads playing on the broadcaster booth, as well as real commercials that you could view while the game is loading. 2K19 actually implemented commercials, only to take them out shortly after. Obviously fans were upset about the commercials being added, but they would be much more lenient if the game was free to play in the first place. There is more money to be made in more ethical ways for 2K, and many other publishers.
There have been plenty of examples of product placement throughout the decades of video game history, let’s go through a few, and see the different ways publishers have added real life advertisements into their games.
Burger King Product Placements in Their Own Games
Many of you might have forgotten this like I did until I started this article, but Burger King released 3 games for the Xbox 360 that they would give out to you if you purchased certain meals at their restaurant, or you could pay $3.99 outright. There was a bumper car game, a Mario Kart esque game and an odd one that could be described as a stealth experience. Pocket Bike Racer was the Mario Kart like game, which ended up being actually quite fun. Obviously the use of product placement is slightly muddied in this example because the whole game is an ad for Burger King. Not many companies have gone this far, but it sure is a silly and fun memory to look back on in the history of ad placement in games.
Death Stranding and All the Monster You Can Drink
Monster Energy Drink is usually associated with the X Games and rally car racing, not with huge triple AAA games directed by Hideo Kojima. But against all odds (and all reason for that matter) Monster Energy made a big splash in the way people think about Death Stranding. This has become a big talking point for Death Stranding, among other points of contention that has riddled the buzz around the game. The issue some people have with this version of ad placement is that it is so utterly in your face when you are introduced to it. You truly can’t miss it, and when you do find it, it becomes part of the in-game mechanics.
Is Sam Bridges feeling a little tired? Why not drink a Monster to get you feeling right. That is the purpose of Monster Energy in Death Stranding, you use it to get a nice stamina boost for a short period of time. Not often are the real life ads used directly in the game mechanics, but of course, you can leave it to Kojima to add such an odd feature. But hey, at least it makes a little bit of sense!
Is Burnout Paradise a Democrat?
Why not implement a billboard ad for a presidential candidate? This was quite a bold move done by EA, a company that has had its fair share of questionable decisions. They essentially backed Barack Obama as they put in billboard ads that stated “Early Voting Has Begun”, this would definitely cause you to do a double take when driving through Paradise City, only to see a huge billboard with Barack Obama’s face on them. This was one of the more strange examples of product placement in video game history, and it is something to look back on in 10 years from now and think, “Wow, that really happened.”
Product placement is, in all likelihood, a feature that is here to stay in video games. It will most likely become as commonplace as it is in television and movies alike. With games becoming more and more expensive to make, companies will look to make a profit in any way they can think of. As past publishers have shown, there are right ways to do it, then there is the train wreck way to go about it. It is up to these developers, and then ultimately publishers, to find a way to implement ads that don’t affect the integrity of the game. Also, they need to be careful to not make it look as if they are trying to take advantage of the consumer, which is essentially what these ads are there to do. Don’t show your hand to much out there publishers, and most importantly, don’t end up looking like complete sellouts!
