THE world’s largest video games company has sealed a deal to litter its games with advertisements that can be changed over time.

Electronic Arts (EA), the American games maker behind the SimCity series and 2006 Fifa World Cup, has joined with Massive, owned by Microsoft, and IGA Worldwide, which specialises in incorporating advertisements in games, to place sponsored images in a string of releases.

The advertisements, which could take the form of virtual billboards or shopfronts, will start to appear in games from the third quarter of this year and will be changeable, allowing advertisers to mirror offline campaigns and change their advertising after a set number of days or sessions.

The first release to include the advertisements will be Battlefield 2142, a warfare game developed by DICE, of Sweden, but distributed by EA.

The contract with IGA will cover three games initially. An extension of the agreement will be considered on a game-by-game basis. The contract with Massive will see “dynamic” advertisements used in EA’s Need for Speed game, with further releases to follow.

Advertisements will be delivered over broadband, allowing the software to update the brands shown to the user during the course of its use.

Frank Sagnier, the vice- president of EA for online and strategic relationships in Europe, said: “Consumers are increasingly gaming in deep, virtual worlds, and advertisers need adapted ways to reach these audiences.

Chip Lange, vice-president of online commerce for EA, said: “In places like a basketball court, football stadium or roadside in a racing game, advertising is not only nice to have, but an essential component to create the fiction of being there.”

EA is one of a line of big makers of computer games to warm to the possible money-making opportunities that in-game advertising offers. The Japanese games maker Konami has integrated advertising into its Pro Evolution Soccer game, with adidas, the sportswear label, and Vittel, the mineral water brand, taking out advertisements.

Red Bull, the energy drink, bought advertising space in Worms 3D.

The development of the in-game advertising market opens a channel for advertisers to tap into the difficult-to-reach young adult market. It also allows the makers of video games to recoup some of their development costs, which can exceed £10 million a title.

The flexibility of the system would allow a retailing advertiser to create a virtual store, with its brand emblazoned across the façade. It would then be possible for the advertiser to change its displays according to the time of year.

Microsoft entered the in-game advertising market in May with the $400 million (£210 million) purchase of Massive. EA, which will share revenues on advertisement sales, had previously used only static adverts, which do not change.

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