Archive notice: This article was originally published on January 29, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
IGA Worldwide, the largest independent in-game advertising company, is responsible for integrating advertising into Burnout Paradise, the fifth installment of Electronic Arts’ Burnout racing franchise. The game had been available since 22 January. This was the first IGA Worldwide and EA collaboration in the Burnout series.
IGA Worldwide placed brands including Burger King, Diesel, Gillette, CompUSA.com, Sling Media, Vizio and JL Audio in static formats such as billboards, retail stores, radio stations and vehicles. With more than eleven million games sold since 2002, the Burnout series continued to challenge players seeking a fast, anarchic driving experience. EA promised higher speeds, more realistic cars and freely explorable cityscapes; the graphics capabilities of PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 also enabled bigger crashes.
Burnout Paradise offered racing in five city environments online and offline, against the clock or against other players. Its soundtrack included Guns N’ Roses, Jane’s Addiction, Depeche Mode and N.E.R.D. The EasyDrive Friends List let players see which friends were online.
IGA Worldwide co-founder and CEO Justin Townsend said advertisers, developers, publishers and consumers could all benefit from the measurable advantages of advertising in premium games. EA Europe Vice President Online John Burns said realistic environments were part of delivering the best player experience, and that players preferred context-relevant in-game advertising using real brand names.
