Gamers have spent the last decade watching publishers experiment with new ways to make money.
First, it was downloadable content. Then came season passes. Then battle passes, premium cosmetics, subscriptions, and live-service everything. Now Electronic Arts (EA) appears to be exploring another frontier: advertising.
The publisher recently rolled out EA Advertising, a platform designed to help brands place sponsored experiences and other forms of advertising directly inside its games. According to EA, the goal is to help brands "weave" themselves into the worlds players already spend time in.
On the surface, that doesn't sound particularly radical. After all, sports games have featured sponsorships for years. Nobody buys EA Sports FC expecting a world free of corporate logos. Even real football is covered in sponsors, and virtual football has followed suit, so a Visa logo on a jersey or a branded replay graphic rarely feels out of place.
