The Transport Accident Commission of Victoria, a state in Australia’s south-east, have signed a contract with Massive—the Microsoft-owned in-game advertising provider—courtesy of which they’ll beam their creepy anti-speeding commercials into the homes of the TAC’s target audience: young Australian males.

The ads will appear in Guitar Hero 5 but, more importantly, in Forza 3 as well.

The TAC are famous not just in Australia, but throughout the world, for their insistence on promoting road safety via graphic, violent TV commercials and billboards. So it’ll be interesting to see how the ads go down in Forza, a game about… driving really, really fast.

Below is one of the TAC’s more notable efforts, from a few years back. Be warned; it’s a little rough.

Video games to get local road safety ads [The Australian]

With advertising down across the board thanks to the economic slowdown – and with the opportunities presented by in-game advertising perhaps not as great as was once believed – the cuts are hardly a surprise.

While this won’t be as gut-wrenching to you as the loss of, say, a development studio, it still sucks when people wake up to find themselves out of a job.

We’ve contacted Massive to confirm this, and will update when/if we hear back from them.

Blizzard COO Paul Sams put the fire out before it started, stating in the press release, “This partnership does not include in-game advertising, as Massive understands and respects our stance against advertising that might detract from gameplay or offend our players.” That’s the way you do it — I mean, no one wants to be distracted by American Apparel ads while trying to fend off a Zerg swarm.

The full press release, announcing the contractual marriage between the World of Warcraft developer and Massive, is after this.

Massive Inc. and Blizzard Entertainment Form Multi-Year Advertising Relationship

Massive teams with Blizzard Entertainment for ads on its Web sites and Battle.net online game service.

NEW YORK — Dec. 3, 2008 — Massive Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corp. and a leading network for video game advertising, and Blizzard Entertainment Inc., a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software, announced today a multi-year deal that names Massive as the exclusive advertising service provider for Blizzard Entertainment®’s Web sites and Battle.net® online game service in the U.S., Canada, Europe, South Korea and Australia.

In addition, Massive has teamed with Intergi Inc., the world’s largest Web-based video game and interactive entertainment network and advertising representation company, to manage Web-based advertising to reach Blizzard’s audience of core gamers and gaming enthusiasts. Intergi is powered by the Microsoft Atlas AdManager platform to deliver client advertising across its network of more than 700 sites.

Through this relationship, Massive will serve advertising to a highly engaged audience that visits Blizzard Entertainment’s collection of heavily trafficked Web sites and plays using Battle.net, the company’s online game service with millions of active users. On Battle.net, players can meet online to play with one another in Blizzard Entertainment’s “StarCraft®,” “Warcraft®” and “Diablo®” series of games, including the upcoming “StarCraft II” and “Diablo III.” Blizzard Entertainment’s Web sites include the home page for the enormously popular “World of Warcraft®,” a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) with over 11 million subscribers throughout the world.

“Our partnership with Blizzard Entertainment aligns Massive with the creative powerhouse behind some of the most renowned real-time strategy games of all time, as well as the world’s most popular MMORPG,” said JJ Richards, general manager of platform services for the Advertiser and Publisher Solutions Group at Microsoft. “This deal builds on Massive’s top-tier network of console games by giving us immediate credibility on the PC. And with Intergi, we are working with a highly targeted partner that knows the gaming audience to take a brand’s campaign from the Web site into the Battle.net game network.”

“Our decision to partner with Massive was based on several important factors, including their technical expertise, global sales presence, and willingness to work with us to ensure advertisements appear only in contexts and environments that make sense,” said Paul Sams, chief operating officer of Blizzard Entertainment. “This partnership does not include in-game advertising, as Massive understands and respects our stance against advertising that might detract from gameplay or offend our players.”

“We are thrilled to work with two industry pioneers; both Massive and Blizzard are two of today’s leading names in the world of gaming, and their confidence in our network and advertising representation services is a true testament to what Intergi offers when it comes to reaching today’s gaming enthusiast,” said Jayson Dubin, CEO of Intergi.

About Blizzard Entertainment Inc.
Best known for blockbuster hits including World of Warcraft® and the Warcraft®, StarCraft®, and Diablo® series, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software renowned for creating some of the industry’s most critically acclaimed games. Blizzard Entertainment’s track record includes ten #1-selling games and multiple Game of the Year awards. The company’s online-gaming service, Battle.net®, is one of the largest in the world, with millions of active users.

About Intergi
Recently ranked as the largest digital network targeting the online gaming and entertainment sector, Intergi is both a leading online gaming and entertainment advertising network, and representation company offering a hybrid of online opportunities that connect today’s advertisers and media buyers with consumers comprising the $25 billion gaming industry. Offering reach capabilities of over 9 billion page views and 160 million unique visitors on average, each month, Intergi offers targeted advertising placements — site specific, channel-wide and run-of-network — through more than 700 specialised gaming and entertainment categories including massively multiplayer online (MMO) and first person shooter (FPS) genres. Intergi’s global market allows advertisers and publishers to connect from different parts of the world and access a more robust and viable gaming enthusiast. Based in Deerfield Beach, Florida, the company was launched in May 2007 by a team of seasoned gaming industry veterans. For more information, visit www.intergi.com.

About Massive Inc.
Massive Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corp., is the creator of a leading network for dynamic video game advertising. The Massive Network offers advertisers the ability to engage an aggregated gaming audience in real time across multiple platforms. Over 300 blue-chip advertisers have run campaigns across the Massive Network throughout North America and Europe. Publishers in the Massive Network generate revenue through dynamic in-game advertising, enabling them to fully realise the value of their content while preserving and enhancing the game experience. Massive’s technology allows for all forms of downloadable media and advertising content to be contextually integrated into the game environment, including image, audio, video and game object formats. More information can be found online at http://www.massiveincorporated.com.

About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realise their full potential.

And while new entries in the Call of Duty series is a given, as is further exploitation of the Bond licence — this time, by Bizarre Creations — the fact that you’re “not going to be playing Tony Hawk [with] a controller in your hands” will probably come as a surprise to some gamers who haven’t been keeping up. Let’s just hope whomever’s at the helm improves upon what Skate It did.

Newsweek blogger/griot N’Gai Croal is twittering like a man possessed at the Massive summit, reporting that the next Call of Duty, back in Infinity Ward’s hands again, will hit Fall of 2009.

Activision-published siblings Bizarre Creations are said to be “working on 3rd person Bond game for 2009″ that’s “racing and driving focused” as well as a second racing game described as “Mario Kart meets Forza.” The former project jibes with a rumour from last December, so we’d expect this one has been in development for a significant period.

Little of that will probably come as a surprise to anyone following the Activision development hamster wheel, but it’s good to know that the wholly owned Bizarre isn’t just sitting on its hands. We’ll be keeping an eye on N’Gai’s Blackberry fingering for those sweet nuggets of info.

N’Gai Croal’s Twitter

Under the terms of the contract, Massive will provide ads with existing franchises like the Saint’s Row series as well as as-yet-unannounced titles.

“With an open-world, mission-based game such as “Saints Row 2″,” said Massive’s Eric Bassman, “we can work creatively with advertisers to place their brands in new, edgy environments.”

Great!

Massive and THQ Sign Multiyear Deal to Enable Dynamic In-Game Advertising Within THQ Titles [WebWire]

Hopefully, that means World in Conflict: Soviet Assault, the PC expansion pack and PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 console port, will see the light of day. We presume it will ultimately ship, just under its new name: Tom Clancy’s World in Conflict: Soviet Assault. You know, for brand synergy.

Ubisoft swoops for Massive [Develop]

Media research firm Interpret looked into four of Massive’s advertisers: an unnamed fast-food restaurant, candy company and entertainment studio, plus Adidas footwear and apparel, and found the ads are having an effect, showing significant percentage increases in brand recognition when compared to those who didn’t see the in-game ads.

With the Adidas promotion, for example, gamers who saw the ads in 2K Sports’ Major League Baseball 2K7 said things like “Adidas is the only brand for me” and “Adidas is an inspirational brand” 70 percent more often than those not exposed to the ads.

And Massive’s study seems to show gamers don’t mind being influenced: 70 percent of gamers said the ads enhanced realism, fit the games they appeared in (universally sports games, except for the ads in Rainbow Six: Vegas) and that the ads “looked cool.”

In-Game Advertising Research Proves Effectiveness for Brands Across Categories and Game Titles

adidas, other leading brands from quick-service restaurant, candy and entertainment categories drive key marketing metrics for brands and products advertised throughout Massive Network.

NEW YORK — June 3, 2008 — Massive Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corp. and a leading network for video game advertising, and Interpret LLC, a leading new media research firm, today released research results that provide further insight into the significant brand impact of dynamic in-game advertising. The study demonstrates that the gaming audience has a consistently positive opinion of the ads and how the ads affect their game experience.

Interpret conducted detailed research on behalf of Massive and four of its advertisers: adidas utilizing brand advertising for footwear and apparel, a quick-service restaurant (QSR) brand promoting a tie-in to gaming and a specific menu option, a candy company marketing new creative for its candy bar brand, and an entertainment studio advertising the DVD release for a hit film. The study measures a broad range of brand metrics across game environments and suggests best practices to guide advertisers and their agencies within this rapidly maturing medium.

adidas tested ads it ran through the Massive Network in “Major League Baseball® 2K7,” published by 2K Sports, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. Among those exposed to the adidas ads (the test group), 40 percent recall the company’s tagline of “Impossible Is Nothing” — an increase of 90 percent over those not exposed to the ads (the control group). The number of gamers exposed to the ads who agreed with the statements “adidas is the only brand for me” and “adidas is an inspirational brand” rose 70 percent over those not exposed to the ads. In addition, 73 percent of gamers recalling the ads agreed with the statement that “the ads enhanced the realism of the game.”

“The influence of gaming on our target for adidas can’t be denied,” said Brian Mathena, group media director for Carat. “The scalability and effectiveness that Massive’s dynamic in-game solution provides is evident in the results of our efforts. Massive has consistently been a true partner in consulting on the best gaming solutions for adidas and the rest of our clients.”

Drawing on its unparalleled experience in video game advertising research, Massive has conducted studies for more than 30 clients across North America and Europe assessing the impact of in-game ads across numerous key brand metrics, including purchase interest, brand recommendation and brand attributes. Results such as these released today help the advertising community understand how and why in-game advertising works, and guides the development of best practices for this important component of media plans.

Across all game genres and advertisers studied, the research revealed that an average of 70 percent of gamers agreed with statements that the dynamic in-game ads “contributed to realism,” “fit the games” in which they were served and looked “cool.”

A leading QSR brand executed custom ad creative for select titles with strong results. Among those gamers exposed to the QSR ads in “Need for Speed Carbon,” a racing title published by Electronic Arts Inc., the number saying that they would recommend the QSR brand to others rose by 39 percent compared with the control group, and those assigning the QSR brand the highest possible brand rating rose by 17 percent from the control group to the test group. Fifty-six percent of exposed gamers agreed with the statement that the ads made the gaming environment feel more interactive.

A global candy bar company executed a branding campaign in “NASCAR® 08,” published by Electronic Arts. Seventy-five percent of gamers recalled the candy bar in-game advertising with 56 percent recalling the specific ad creative. Within the test group, 72 percent agreed with the statement that the candy bar is “a great snack to eat while playing video games,” an increase of 29 percent from the control group; the proportion agreeing that the candy bar “gives you energy” and “is cool” rose 24 percent and 21 percent from control group to test group, respectively.

An entertainment studio ran a campaign advertising the DVD release of a hit film in “Rainbow Six: Vegas,” an action title published by Ubisoft Entertainment. Unaided awareness of the DVD increased 16 percent among gamers exposed to the ads as compared with the control group, with 66 percent of those recalling the campaign having a more positive opinion of the DVD following in-game exposure. Purchase intent for the DVD rose 23 percent from control group to test group, with 80 percent of exposed gamers responding in the survey that “they would probably or definitely purchase the DVD.”

“The depth of this research reflects Massive’s commitment to offering advertisers an understanding of how in-game advertising can impact brands across game genres and advertising categories,” said Cory Van Arsdale, CEO of Massive. “As the in-game medium matures and establishes its position on the media plan, advertisers and agencies are eager for insight into creative nuances and best practices for maximizing its impact. We view this type of guidance as an essential part of our role as an industry leader and innovator.”

Methodology

Interpret implemented a test/control methodology for each game in which Massive dynamically served ads, totaling over 1,000 gamers across the United States. Both control and test group respondents played the same game title that was studied for each ad client. The control group consisted of those who had played the game but were not exposed to ads delivered from Massive. The test group had played the game on a connected Xbox 360 system or PC during the time the ad campaigns were live, and had the opportunity to be exposed to the ads delivered by Massive. Both groups were asked the same set of questions about the brands and ads included in the study, and the respondent differences were evaluated to identify significant shifts in each brand metric measured.

About Interpret LLC

Interpret is a next-generation media and market research firm with a focus on evaluating and measuring the intersections of content, advertising, technology and consumer behaviour. Interpret’s management team has unique experience pioneering new custom research methodologies and analytics to help companies Plan, Test and Measure™ their new media strategies. In addition to campaign ad effectiveness testing, Interpret’s suite of products and services include GaMeasure and GamerLog, two syndicated services developed to deliver planning and measurement intelligence to the burgeoning field
of in and around-game advertising. The firm is headquartered in Santa Monica, California, with offices in New York and London. More information can be found online at: http://www.interpretllc.com.

About Massive Inc.

Massive Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft, is the creator of a leading network for dynamic video game advertising. The Massive Network offers advertisers the ability to reach an aggregated gaming audience in real time across multiple platforms. Over 200 blue-chip advertisers have run campaigns across the Massive Network throughout North America and Europe. Publishers in the Massive Network generate revenue through dynamic in-game advertising, enabling them to fully realise the value of their content while preserving and enhancing the game experience. Massive’s technology allows for all forms of downloadable media and advertising content to be contextually integrated into the game environment, including image, audio, video and game object formats. More information can be found online at http://www.massiveincorporated.com.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realise their full potential.

The deal will extend the contract between the two for two years, but more importantly expand the number of games that Electronic Arts will allow Massive to place ads in.

With the latest agreement, EA will further expand the opportunities available to advertisers by extending the participation of current titles in the Massive network as well as incorporating additional, highly anticipated games over the course of the deal. The wide range of EA content that will be available in the Massive network includes the next two iterations of popular EA SPORTS(TM) franchises including Madden NFL* football, NBA LIVE basketball, NASCAR* (R) racing and NHL(R) hockey.

While the press release spends lots of time explaining how wonderful this is for advertisers and how profitable it will be for Electronic Arts, it fails to mention the impact it has on gamers. I don’t mind some in-game advertising, but reading a release like this makes me feel like these games are little more than glorified vehicles for advertising… and we’re still paying top dollar to get them. How crazy is that?

Agreement Enables Integration of In-Game Advertising and Premium Video Game Content into Long-Term Campaign Planning and Media Buying Processes

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. & NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–March 18, 2008–Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) and Massive Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT) and a leading network for video game advertising, today announced an expansion and two-year extension of their agreement to offer dynamic in-game advertising for EA video games. The new global agreement provides unprecedented opportunities for advertisers to engage with EA’s highly coveted audience — especially males ages 18 to 34 — through its roster of blockbuster games on the Xbox 360(TM) platform and exclusive rights to a majority of EA’s premium PC products.

With over three years of experience in dynamically serving advertisements in video games, Massive is the definitive in-game advertising solution for advertisers around the world, including Ford Motor Co. in the U.S., Rogers in Canada, and Puma in Europe. Massive’s long-standing relationship with EA, publisher of many of the world’s most popular games, provides advertisers with extensive reach through EA’s portfolio of premium content video games. This agreement represents a critical point of differentiation for Massive as the in-game advertising medium continues its momentum as a more attractive and effective medium compared with traditional forms of established advertising.

With the latest agreement, EA will further expand the opportunities available to advertisers by extending the participation of current titles in the Massive network as well as incorporating additional, highly anticipated games over the course of the deal. The wide range of EA content that will be available in the Massive network includes the next two iterations of popular EA SPORTS(TM) franchises including Madden NFL* football, NBA LIVE basketball, NASCAR* (R) racing and NHL(R) hockey.

Massive will continue to be the exclusive in-game ad network for PC and Xbox 360 platforms of the world’s largest racing franchise, EA’s Need For Speed(TM), including current live titles Need for Speed Carbon and Need for Speed ProStreet. Massive is also working with marketers to incorporate dynamic advertising into another popular EA racing title, Burnout(TM) Paradise.

“We continue to utilise the breadth and depth of Massive’s content to market a range of our clients’ key brands,” said Brian Bos, senior vice president, Convergence Director, Mindshare – Team Detroit. “With this expanded partnership, we will be able to plan dynamic in-game campaigns several years out, which is critical in making Massive’s content platform a more integral part of our video game marketing strategy.”

“EA strongly believes that dynamic in-game advertising is an important growth area for our business, and is one of many opportunities we are pursuing in growing the advertising market,” said Kathy Vrabeck, president of the Casual Entertainment Label at EA. “We selected Massive because they are the industry leader in this space with a global sales footprint, solid brand recognition and in-depth experience in video game advertising.”

By providing certainty around Massive’s ad inventory for years into the future, the multiyear agreement enables advertisers to plan in-game advertising on a calendar year basis as part of a holistic campaign development process alongside other mediums such as TV, online and print media.

Rouwen Bastian, Coordinator European Media Strategies at Opel, said: “In-game advertising plays an essential role for us in reaching today’s young adult consumers. The multi-year agreement between Massive and EA makes it possible for us to make greater strategic use of in-game advertising by incorporating it into the same long-term planning as other media forms.”

Richard Dance, Group Account Director at MindShare Interaction UK, said: “The growing channel of in-game advertising provides an exciting and creative medium in which to work. Although we are only scratching the surface with regards to the opportunities it provides, more and more of our clients are keen to include in-game advertising as a part of their multichannel strategy.”

“Our latest agreement with EA expands advertisers’ unprecedented access to EA’s world-class franchises to reach young male gamers around the world,” said Cory Van Arsdale, CEO of Massive. “This multiyear partnership reflects both the maturity of the dynamic in-game advertising medium and the benefits that our network continues to deliver for both publishers and advertisers.”