Massive Signs Advertising Deal with Blizzard

Advertising company and Microsoft subsidiary Massive Inc. has signed an advertising deal with Blizzard, Yahoo! reports. The biggest immediate impact for players is that Battle.net will no longer see only Blizzard product ads, and will not have a host of advertisements for the gaming audience. There will be no in-game advertising, though:

Through this relationship, Massive will serve advertising to a highly engaged audience that visits Blizzard Entertainment’s collection of heavily trafficked Web sites and plays using Battle.net, the company’s online game service with millions of active users. On Battle.net, players can meet online to play with one another in Blizzard Entertainment’s “StarCraft®,” “Warcraft®” and “Diablo®” series of games, including the upcoming “StarCraft II” and “Diablo III.” Blizzard Entertainment’s Web sites include the home page for the enormously popular “World of Warcraft®,” a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) with over 11 million subscribers throughout the world.

“Our partnership with Blizzard Entertainment aligns Massive with the creative powerhouse behind some of the most renowned real-time strategy games of all time, as well as the world’s most popular MMORPG,” said JJ Richards, general manager of platform services for the Advertiser and Publisher Solutions Group at Microsoft. “This deal builds on Massive’s top-tier network of console games by giving us immediate credibility on the PC. And with Intergi, we are working with a highly targeted partner that knows the gaming audience to take a brand’s campaign from the Web site into the Battle.net game network.”

“Our decision to partner with Massive was based on several important factors, including their technical expertise, global sales presence, and willingness to work with us to ensure advertisements appear only in contexts and environments that make sense,” said Paul Sams, chief operating officer of Blizzard Entertainment. “This partnership does not include in-game advertising, as Massive understands and respects our stance against advertising that might detract from gameplay or offend our players.”