In-game advertisements are arguably one of the more controversial elements of gaming life. After all, when you’re playing a video game, the last thing you want to do is suddenly be stopped by an ad that pops onto your screen. Think of it as when you’re watching a YouTube video and suddenly get taken out of it because a random ad plays at an equally random time. It’s annoying as all get out, right? Anyway, you’d think that Roblox would shy away from such things to help ensure its fanbase isn’t annoyed with them. Well, you’d be right, and you’d be wrong. They aren’t doing pop-up ads to get players’ attention, but they are doing in-game ads via a new partnership with Google.
As you can see in the official Google post on its blog, the partnership with Roblox is about delivering “immersive” ads that don’t pop up on your screen and stop you from playing the game but rather are a natural part of the world so that you can see it and watch it if you desire, or, you can just move right along:
“Immersive Ads exist within the gaming experience, whether it’s a billboard ad you see driving through a virtual city or an ad on the big screen during a virtual football game. They blend naturally into the game environment, enhancing the experience. Since we began testing Immersive Ads last year, we’ve made improvements to streamline implementation and have added video formats, opening up even more opportunities for publishers and advertisers.”
It’s not hard to see why this could be a game-changer for both Google and the game. Ads and microtransactions have been a thorn in gamers’ sides for some time now, and yet, publishers still put them in an attempt to milk gamers for all they’ve got. With this kind of “ad service,” though, the desire is to put the ads in without detracting from what gamers are naturally doing. It’d be no different an experience than going to the local mall and seeing billboards for various businesses on the road that you’re going down.
Of course, the real question here is whether the feature will be abused over time. We know that’s a cynical way of looking at things, but let’s be honest here: it’s a fair thing to question. After all, “if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing.” Thus, you have to expect some people to “load up” their games and worlds with ads the moment they can do so. Time will tell if that comes to pass…
