Indiana Jones, Iron Man ads
lend touch of life to Sims

Electronic Arts (EA) plans to sell dynamic in-game ad space in "Sims 3," which comes out in February 2009.

Ads will appear as movie theater posters and billboards in the virtual world Sims characters inhabit. View Sims 3 screenshots on ShackNews.

Creative can be switched in and out over the 'net, making pre-sale custom integrations unneccessary. IGA — which recently inked a deal with Sony to integrate ads in Guitar Hero World Tour for Playstation 3 — will handle the placements.

Beyond virtual "outdoor" executions, EA plans to integrate brands in other ways, reports Ad Age, citing the example of an over-the-counter pain medicine for Sims characters that encountered a tough day or recently had a workout.

Sales of Sims 3 are expected to eclipse those of Sims 2, which reached 16.5 million gamers, which spent an average of 47.6 hours with the game since they bought it, according to Interpret's Gamemeasure. Marketers will be able to examine Sims 3's figures before buying in-game ad space.

The first dynamic in-game ad platform appeared in the last half of 2005, when IGA served ads on a PC-based version of Counter Strike. In 2006, IGA officially launched a dynamic in-game ad network. Massive, now owned by Microsoft, followed suit.

In summer 2007, EA and Microsoft launched a platform in tandem. At the time, the technology was used for Xbox 360 and PC games. Since then, companies like Google have expressed interest in joining the market.

In-game advertising may become a popular means of marketing in a recession because it encourages an escapist mind-set, said Amanda Richman, senior VP-director of digital services at MediaVest. The desire to "escape" economic woe contributed to a boom in the movie industry during the Great Depression.