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Steiner, Thomas --- "Advertising in Digital Games and Cultural Diversity: An EC Media Law Enquiry" [2010] ELECD 144; in Graber, Beat Christoph; Burri-Nenova, Mira (eds), "Governance of Digital Game Environments and Cultural Diversity" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010)

Book Title: Governance of Digital Game Environments and Cultural Diversity

Editor(s): Graber, Beat Christoph; Burri-Nenova, Mira

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781848446830

Section: Chapter 9

Section Title: Advertising in Digital Games and Cultural Diversity: An EC Media Law Enquiry

Author(s): Steiner, Thomas

Number of pages: 32

Extract:

9. Advertising in digital games and
cultural diversity: an EC media law
enquiry
Thomas Steiner*

INTRODUCTION
Electronic Arts (EA) is preparing to release the online game Battlefield
Heroes. The game is a new episode in EA's successful Battlefield series.
Players navigate cartoon-style soldiers through a virtual battlefield and shoot
down whatever it takes to get to the next level of gameplay. The download of
and registration for Battlefield Heroes will be free of charge.1 And while other
PC-based online games such as the massively multiplayer online role-playing
game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft charge a monthly subscription fee,
Battlefield Heroes does not. Advertising and micro-payments should generate
revenue.2
With Battlefield Heroes, EA departs from its traditional business model for
digital games that has chiefly relied on revenue from retail sales. The giant
American digital games publisher intends to diversify its product line. By
giving the game away for free, EA is seeking to lower the entry barrier for
occasional gamers. Battlefield Heroes should appeal to a broad audience
beyond the hard-core players who prefer complex games for which they have
to purchase a software client that costs 50 or more euros.3
The business model that combines a basic system of micro-transactions
with increased advertising is not entirely new to EA. The games publisher has
successfully applied the model in the Asian market. In 2006, EA introduced
FIFA Online, a free-to-play version of its FIFA football game, in South Korea.

* ...