Starcraft II: “The model for in-game advertising”

March 6, 2008 by Raj
Filed under Corporate, Strategy

According to Robert Kotick, CEO of Activision, Starcraft II may finally be the game that propells in-game advertising to next level. Kotick had a handful things to say at Morgan Stanley Technology Conference. Here’s a snippet:

“What we’ve realized is that [there is] the opportunity [in] just taking the institutional knowledge that exists at Blizzard,” Kotick stated. “For example, how do we take Guitar Hero, which is the best-selling game that we’ve ever had, and take that to Korea, or take that to China, and be thoughtful about it. These guys have so much institutional expertise about how you’ve got to market in these territories.”

Read more after the jump.

Speaking about Blizzard’s hotly anticipated RTS Starcraft II, Kotick said:

“On the Blizzard side, [we need to] really be figuring out things like the StarCraft business model for the future, with in-game advertising and sponsorship, [which have] really not been something that has moved the dial for anybody in the videogame industry, but that we think presents tremendous opportunity for the future.

“[Blizzard] has been thinking about how StarCraft, because it is a short-session experience, can actually be the model for in-game advertising and sponsorship and tournament play and ladder play for the future.”