It is difficult to imagine why major companies have the desperation to make as much money as they possibly can in the most improper ways. Whether these ideas they come up with be completely tone-deaf or unnecessary, an issue will always arise when a company begins to cross the line into coming off as greedy.
One of the largest gaming publisher in the world Electronic Arts is unfortunately infamous for situations like this. With a lengthy history of allowing companies to infiltrate their games with their advertisements in extreme ways, they have left many players with a bad taste in their mouth about their ethics.
Just a few years ago, they placed ads within UFC 4 that played during the gameplay. The ad was for the show The Boys, a player uploaded clip of this and went viral on Reddit for it. The backlash from netizens quickly spread to EA, which they promptly removed the ads from the game and apologized to players about the inconvenience.
EA has seemingly not taken the words of their fans as seriously as they would hope, as now they are inviting companies to advertise themselves within their games in a new program they rolled out. They dangle the fans their games have in the faces of interested companies, promising they will “inherit” the fandoms if they choose to partner with them.
Games within the EA SPORTS series such as Madden NFL, NHL, and FC, have a more understandable approach to advertisements; banners, signs, and jerseys will have companies names plastered on them just as they do in real life games and stadiums. However, there are extreme implementations that are taking place as well, especially with this new program. Some games will have their own reward ecosystems like Mountain Dew’s “DEW University” in EA SPORTS College Football 26 (which also has their own mascot and stadium).
These not to subtle ads will continue to come up in all EA games, The Sims being included in this as well, which is harder to imagine being as natural as EA SPORTS. EA, clearly not having any desire to listen to their fans, insists this is a positive move for everyone:
EA Advertising is expanding EA’s ecosystem by enabling brands to integrate directly into gameplay through dynamic, real-time placements, from stadium signage to custom in-game content, designed to enhance, not disrupt, the player experience. In these interactive gameplay environments, brands become part of the game itself, reflecting how players engage with advertising in real-world contexts. Brands can activate across live environments, tailoring placements to meet campaign objectives, and update campaigns with ongoing optimization informed by aggregated engagement insights.