EA to embed advertising in new games from development stage

Electronic Arts is planning to integrate advertising into its future video games from the earliest stages of development, a company executive said this week. Alexander Dao, EA's vice president of advertising and sponsorship, outlined the strategy in an interview, explaining that designing games with advertising in mind from the start would make brand placements feel more natural and flexible than retrofitting them into existing titles.

The approach is tied to EA Advertising, a new platform the company formally launched in June. The platform is integrated directly into EA's Frostbite game engine, allowing for dynamic ad placement and easier collaboration with brands. While the platform is currently focused on sports titles like EA Sports FC, Madden, and College Football, where ads on virtual billboards can mirror real-world stadium experiences, the company sees broader applications.

Dao emphasized that successful integration requires the advertising to feel authentic to the game. He cited the company's free-to-play title Skate as an example where advertising can be thoughtfully built in. For non-sports games, he pointed to a past collaboration with the fashion brand Coach in The...