The Agency opts for in-game advertising instead of monthly fees

by Shawn Schuster Nov 26th 2008 at 12:30PM

Filed under: Business models, Culture, Economy, Interviews, MMO industry, New titles, The Agency, Spy

In a recent interview with Kikizo, Sony Online Entertainment's Kevin O'Hara revealed that the upcoming spy MMO The Agency will not incorporate the traditional monthly subscription model, but will instead turn to in-game ads and micro-transactions.

"We're acutely aware that shooter players are not used to paying monthly fees, so I doubt we'll go for an outright $15 a month, which works on some of our other projects. So we're checking out Free Realms to see how they're going to do with their micro-transactions, and we might incorporate some of that. We'll definitely have some ad revenue models. The Agency's the perfect place for some in-game product placement," O'Hara stated in the interview.

Tags: in-game-advertising, kevin-ohara, micro-transactions, soe, the-agency

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Celestial Lord said on 12:40PM 11-26-2008

Well, so much for The Agency... SOE appears to be going more after shooter game players with The Agency than MMOG players. That's a shame, as there are so few non-fantasy MMOGs to choose from, especially with Tabula Rasa closing its doors.

ScytheNoire said on 1:07PM 11-26-2008

I'm glad to hear this. A shooter MMO could be a big hit, if done better than Planetside, and I think Sony has learned their lessons well.

Not going with subscription is the best choice they could have made. Have micro-transactions for character customizations and other non-game balance breaking things, but advertising is the smart way to go.

MMO's who try to go with a monthly payment will find it harder and harder to survive.

Angel said on 1:25PM 11-26-2008

I total disagree. different transaction/sub types all have their place. The monthly sub will not be more difficult to use as a method of transaction . It will, however, define a particular type of MMORPG and expectations of that MMORPG. I think the paid expansion will go the way of the dodo eventually but not the monthly sub.

Gleb 70 Draka [A] said on 1:51PM 11-26-2008

What a shame... I really had hopes for this game, While not following it, It looked like it could be good. Ruined

Will H said on 1:55PM 11-26-2008

Not having a monthly subscription fee is a really smart move. Time and again we've seen new MMO's fail, in part to people not being able or willing to subscribe to more than just WoW. It's timely too because of the recession. A couple of my guildmates are now unemployed or underemployed and are giving Guild Wars a second look because it doesn't have a monthly sub.

Bookhouse88 said on 2:23PM 11-26-2008

I'm surprised this article didn't point out the obvious... they're probably avoiding monthly subs to appeal to the console audience more than PC users.

Angel said on 2:42PM 11-26-2008

Yes, and that is one of the hypothetical definers I mentioned. This game is not being designed for PC (though there is supposedly going to be a port out to PC). They are shooting for users who probably have no convenient or reliable way to support a monthly sub.

Syme said on 3:36PM 11-26-2008

Well, this news pretty much ends my interest in The Agency. When it was announced, it sounded like a great idea. But since then, it seems to have morphed from a spy MMO to a microtransaction- and ad-supported shooter. If Sony still has intentions to make a game based more on intrigue than gunplay, they are doing a very bad job promoting it.

UltimateQ said on 4:25PM 11-26-2008

It takes money to keep servers up and running. Yes Sony has tons of it, but without a profit they wouldn't be interested. So having no monthly fees AND no in game advertisements in impractical for their goals.

I think its a worthy endeavor to try this out. I can handle in game advertisement; so long as isn't intrusive. I would gladly take in game advertisement over a $15/mo fee.

UltimateQ said on 6:17PM 11-26-2008

Let me state that, if they have in game advertisements as well as a monthly fee, I might find that a bit irritating.

Ingrod said on 3:55PM 11-27-2008

If you see game features The Agency is a MMO with shooter based combat, many asian MMO works with microtransactions and not are less MMO for that.

Tasogare said on 4:59PM 11-26-2008

In game ads work for some games and obviously not for others. I think advertising fits perfectly in a game that's based in the modern world.

Joe_the_mad26 said on 5:45PM 11-26-2008

I have not had the chance to post much of late, but I had to toss in my two cents here for what it's worth. The responses to this post all have really valid points, well "some" of them anyway, as to the for and against argument to S.O.E.'s possible course of action.

Firstly, if you read the article, O'Hara states that the free model set-up is not 100 percent; they're just looking into it as one of many modules for The Agency. If they do decide to go this way, I for one believe they may have some success with it, if the substance of the game is solid, i.e. Content, game-play, story, etc.

I do not think they are detracting from The Agency's advertised Spy-Thriller/ Action set up, nor are they building up this game to appeal mostly to the console players, such a course of action would be folly on their part since Console MMO players are at this time still a very small percentage of the overall MMO user base. And you can not very well ensure success on such a minority.

In truth, I believe this new course of action, in regards to the new finance set-up, has come in Large part to the recent demise of Tabula Rasa. The MMO industry being full of spy like intrigue as is, S.O.E likely knew of NcSoft's decision long before it was officially announced to the media. Taking this news in hand, the big thinkers at the top of this title's development likely came to a "Play it safe," view of the overall decision. If TR had not folded, it is likely we would still be looking at a standard pay module, just smaller than normal, perhaps somewhere in the ball-park of 9-12.99 a month.

To close, finally, I can not say if this new direction in the game's future will be a success "for sure", but, I can say that there is little to pronounce "for certain" that it will not, or can not be. To turn away from the game at this point based on just this new turn of events is, and forgive me for saying so, just a tad myopic, and may be an indication that said persons actual desire to play the game may have not been very solid from the get go; and to attempt to sully the excitement of those who have, and are, still looking forward to the title is a little selfish.

Bottom line, The Agency still has some time to go. Let's just wait till the game's "actual" release and reviews to form a final verdict on both The Agency and S.O.E's choices to the aforementioned.

Bad_Panda said on 6:49PM 11-26-2008

This is a fantastic route to go down seeing that its going to be on the PS3 as well as the PC. If shit is going to be free then I don't mind about advertising.

Jack said on 10:06PM 11-26-2008

That is great news. I will be playing the Agency :D

torak said on 2:20AM 11-27-2008

The game looks pretty good, I don't see the issue. I generally don't like SOE, I think they publish crap games overall, so free works for me.

I do believe they have been saying they are going to use some sort of subscription free model since the start.

Fakaro said on 5:30PM 12-02-2008

If the advertising blends well with the surroundings than it's nothing more than seeing a billboard for Coke or Pepsi when driving around town. It's really not a big deal at all. It's not like they're talking about dropping those same ads into a fantasy MMO world.

Makes sense to me.