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Closing Bell

Riot Games Seeing Success With In-Game Digital Ads

Riot Games Head of Esports Partnerships & Business Development for North America & Oceana Matt Archambault said the game publisher adding an in-game digital signage system for League of Legends Esports earlier this year was meant to "develop that structural place” with the digital arena banners. He gave the example of Summoner’s Rift, a map in the game, because there is “so much value” to in-stadium ad placements. Speaking today during the virtual Esports Rising event, Archambault said Riot Games had been exploring this idea for a number of years as there is “not a lot, if any, brand integration” within the game. He added the rollout of the arena banners gave them a viable asset to use both from a “regional standpoint as well as for some of our global events.”

Ad tech company Anzu.IO co-Founder & CEO Itamar Benedy suggested this untapped revenue stream for publishers is a $25B market and believes in-game advertising is going to be “around 10% of the global revenue for game developers.” Benedy also commended the “huge impact” Riot Games had on the market with its arena banners, saying the company helped show that in-game ads in non-sports games “can still be very authentic and bring value and make sense.”

Quick Hits:

  • Archambault, on if Riot Games could bring in-game advertising to some of its other titles: “We've actually bulldozed down certain areas to be able to get where we need to get. Where that rolls out and how that comes into play, I think that's still a future iteration of what we want to do.”
  • Benedy, on the future of gaming regarding advertising: “My view is that gaming is going to become an advertising category. ... These integrations and partnerships in place just help brands be more comfortable to get to that point.”
  • Archambault, on whether he believes other publishers will follow Riot Games’ lead: “I definitely can see other publishers getting into this and finding the right avenue to do that. … Those are definitely avenues where you're going to see more people adopt to it because the community is reacting well to it.”
  • Benedy, on his company’s goals for ’21 regarding in-game ads: “It's education for game developers, that historically monetization was not the business model they we're considering. Showing them that it makes sense and that advertising does not always need to be a trade off with bad user experience.”

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