April 3, 2008
NCSOFT SELECTS DOUBLE FUSION AS GAME
ADVERTISING PARTNER FOR CITY OF HEROES
Leading independent game advertising provider
Double Fusion has entered an agreement with NCsoft®, the leading developer and
publisher of online computer games, to represent the successful comic-book
inspired massively multiplayer online game, City of Heroes®. Double Fusion will
provide the technology and sales force to bring brands into the popular online
role-playing game which takes place in a modern urban setting, an ideal
environment for unobtrusive in-game advertising.
Double Fusion and NCsoft are focused on providing
value to the players through this advertising partnership. While real world ads
will lend realism to the urban world of City of Heroes, NCsoft also plans on
taking advantage of Double Fusion’s technology to display player-created content
within the game. The publisher will dedicate all advertising dollars it earns to
fund further game development for the online title, yet still allow players to
opt out of advertising in order to provide flexibility to community members.
“Our partnership with NCsoft is a clear showcase
for two of our guiding philosophies: bringing value to the player through
appropriate use of advertising spaces and bringing new business models to the
marketplace by creating new revenue streams that can help fund game development
and community support” said Jonathan Epstein, president and CEO, Double Fusion.
“City of Heroes is a key property for NCsoft and
we take great care to grow and nurture our player community,” said Brian
Clayton, General Manager of NCsoft’s Northern California studio. “We are pleased
to work with Double Fusion on City of Heroes, as they have demonstrated
sensitivity to the needs of our community and fundamentally understand how
advertising can bring value to the players when executed gracefully, and in the
appropriate context. In addition to allowing any of our players to opt-out if
they so choose, their flexible technology will not only allow us to bring brand
messages into the game but also provide a fun, new platform for displaying
player-created materials.”
The addition of City of Heroes to the Double
Fusion network demonstrates the company’s commitment to offering their
advertiser and agency partners a wide array of in-game advertising
opportunities, to maximizing revenues for its publisher and developer partners
and to building a portfolio of top titles among retail PC and console games,
massively multiplayer online games, social networks, casual downloadable games,
advanced online games and virtual worlds.
Here are some
before/after sample images to
show how these ads could look
Before
After
Before
After
