Electronic Arts Inc, Activision Inc and other video-game makers may have their games rated for popularity just as television programs are, possibly creating new advertising sales, say analysts who follow the companies.
New versions of game machines from Microsoft Corp and Sony Corp will have connections for online game play that will allow monitoring of how many people play a game and for how long, Bobby Kotick, Activision's chief executive officer, said at a presentation with Nielsen Entertainment, a division of VNU NV.
Game popularity is judged by how many copies are sold at stores, such as those run by GameStop Corp. Unlike the television ratings provided by VNU's Nielsen Media Research, games sales don't tell how many people play a game or for how long. Knowing that might help publishers charge more for ads in popular games.
"Ultimately there's the possibility for ad buyers to tell the relative value of putting their ads in one game versus another," said Stewart Halpern, who follows Activision for RBC Capital Markets in New York.
Billboards displayed in sports games could rotate advertising from different buyers, he said.
"Online-enabled games could become the ultimate spot mar-ket," for advertising, said Halpern, who rates Activision's shares "outperform" and said he doesn't own them.
"This technology will tell moment by moment what a gamer is interacting with on screen," Kotick said.
Activision is interested in using the data to prove that gamers pay attention to images of products placed inside of games.
Activision's game "True Crime: Streets of L.A" contains images of phones from Nokia Oyj. Its "Tony Hawk's Underground" skate-boarding game showed images of sneakers from Puma AG.
Activision got US$1 million in ad sales last year, said Kotick. The sequel to Tony Hawk, which Activision will release this year, will show as many as half a dozen products.
Nielsen Entertainment may gather data from online players to provide measures of popularity, said Andrew Wing, president and chief executive officer of Nielsen Entertainment.
"We're bringing the same sort of discipline to games that you see in television and other media," Wing said.
The data could also affect game sales and company profitability, analysts say.
"It could change buying habits if gamers see that this or that game is popular," based on ratings, said Arvind Bhatia, who follows Activision for Southwest Securities in Dallas, Texas.
He said early indications of a game's popularity might help game companies plan how many copies to make. "You could step up your marketing early on, maybe control costs better," he said.
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