EA: There Is A Place For In-Game Ads, When Done Right

Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson has responded to questions about introducing in-game ads, saying, “There is a place for advertising when done right.”

During EA’s Q4 2022 earnings call, the topic of in-game advertising was brought up following reports that PlayStation and Xbox are ramping up their own in-game advertisement campaigns for free-to-play titles. In response, Wilson stated that the company wants to “ensure that the player experience is the best possible player experience that we can provide,” adding that they’ve tested various models over the course of time, while “some have continued and some we have stopped on the basis of really upholding the best possible player experience we can.”

“What we’ve seen generally though in entertainment media and even in games, particularly in mobile games right now, you see that there is a place for advertising when done right. And there is a portion of the community that when given the choice will participate in advertising where it benefits their gameplay experience,” Wilson said.

Back in April, it was reported that Microsoft was developing a program that would bring in-game advertisements into free-to-play games on Xbox. The goal of this program is to provide a revenue stream for developers, while Microsoft would not take a cut. EA has experimented with ads in non-free-to-play games in the past, such as in Battlefield 2042 with its infamous billboards, which players responded to poorly.

At the time, the company responded to the reports, saying, “We are always looking for ways to improve the experience for players and developers but we don’t have anything further to share.”