In what proves an interesting take on the recent increases in product placement in games, Owen Good of Kotaku shows why in-game advertising is on the rise and why it is partly down to the fault of gamers.

Also mentioned are that while many gamers see advertising as a blight to gaming, it isn't any form of punishment and should just be taken to be another step to recreating a game world that accurately portrays reality.

Are you helping to shape the future of the gaming industry with disloyalty and poor decisions?

Nearly 24 hours after it went out in mid-April, John Warner checked on the numbers for Raycatcher - a game he and a partner designed and distributed over Steam. The first day, it sold 1,000 copies for $US5. But pirates had also made 35,000 copies for free.

Warner, 25, an environmental artist who had worked at Relic Games on Dawn of War II, expected to lose copies to piracy. He’d already begun pondering what might be a third option in the ongoing zero-sum struggle between keeping gamers happy and ensuring they give you money for your work. But if nothing else, the torrenting of Raycatcher provided a good argument that someone in the indie sector should try building a game supported by product placements and in-game advertising. And after this experience he figured, why not him?

“I think people are voting - they’re just not interested in paying for games any more,” Warner said. “The DRM is getting cumbersome, and everyone hates it. I think we’re at a point where indies have to consider a new revenue model. Because it takes a long time to make a game.”

Euphoric via kotaku.com.au »