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he MSN group is leading the acquisition of Massive, with support from the Xbox team. Xbox will be the first Microsoft property to take advantage of Massive's dynamic in-game advertising technology. Xbox has worked with Massive for more than a year and found that Massive's solid understanding of gamers, passion ensure that in-game advertising is done right. Massive's approach adds value to the overall experience for gamers, and saves them from skyrocketing game prices. Xbox already piloted in-game advertising in games like Rainbow 6 Lockdown, Karaoke Revolution, and MLB 2K6.

The in-game ad experience is done with gamer satisfaction being the most important criteria, and Massive makes sure that every new in-game ad unit goes through extensive testing with gamers prior to placement. Ads must meet very high standards in order to be considered a part of a particular game experience. The ads must add entertainment value to the overall game experience, never to detract from game play, adding realism to the game - meaning, ads in games are in places where the gamer would expect to see ads in real life - and must be contextually relevant.

Ads will appear in places where one would expect to see ads in real life. The goal is to enhance realism in the game, and to never detract from game play. For example in MLB 2K6 instead of seeing 'Joke Cola'; you now see real cola brands just like you see at the ballgame. Currently in Rainbow Six Lockdown, as you are passing by a cityscape, you will see billboards and wall postings of current movies and TV shows. An example where in-game ads would not be appropriate are pre-20th century game titles (like Oblivion) in which advertising would not be a natural fit, or deemed to enhance the realism of the game.

If everything goes well, we hope we'll begin to see relevant and dynamic ads in Xbox Live and MSN Games in the fall/holiday timeframe.

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