Valve and Advertisers Kiss and Make Up

February 16, 2006 4:15 PM

About a month ago I reported on an advertising campaign by a company called Engage, using technology from in-game advertising firm IGA, that placed Subway ads throughout maps on several Counter-Strike servers. When contacted about the matter, Valve stated that the campaign was unauthorized and illegal. Today, the noted development studio sent out a press release announcing that Valve and IGA have come to an "amicable resolution of difference" regarding the matter, and no legal action will be taken against IGA.

Last year, IGA arranged for the placement of advertising in Counter-Strike for certain advertisers and their agencies. Like all commercial advertisements, ads in games such as Counter-Strike require permission from the intellectual property (IP) owner. IGA has always sought to honor the intellectual property rights of the owners of games in which its advertising is inserted. IGA takes its responsibility to obtain such permission very seriously.
Valve and IGA have announced that they are pleased to have reached a swift and professional resolution of any issues that may have existed between them, IGA's advertisers and IGA's advertising agencies. Valve and IGA look forward to discussing mutually beneficial opportunities in the future.

The announcement implies that Valve will be working with IGA in the future for other in-game advertisement campaigns. Further comments from Valve on future plans were not available by press time.

Chris Remo

Filed Under

Valve

From The Chatty

Refresh Go To Thread

[deleted] 1426145827

 reply
February 16, 2006 4:22 PM

[deleted]
- Ajax
  
   reply
  February 16, 2006 5:29 PM
  
  That press release sounds more like someone from Valve's PR dept. putting a smiley face on a VU Games clusterfuck. Especially since IGA wouldn't out the publisher last month when people were trying to figure out WTF was going on.
  - Chris Remo
    
     reply
    February 16, 2006 5:32 PM
    
    Hmmm... I'm not sure what VU Games would have to do with it. Valve's physical publisher is EA now, and they handle all their online stuff personally.
    - Ajax
      
       reply
      February 16, 2006 6:17 PM
      
      It just strikes me as really, really odd that IGA could "confirm" they were dropping ads into CS but they couldn't talk about the game's publisher. How does that work? Were they blowing smoke to try and generate buzz, or was Valve's "publisher" overstepping their bounds?
      
      Given EA's penchant for cramming ads all up into their games over the last few years, I suppose anything is possible... But if it were an EA-sanctioned ad I'd figure they would put Burger KingÃ¢Â„Â¢ all over the place.