Massive Network Delivers Reach, Frequency, and Accountability for Tapping Largest Entertainment Medium and Lucrative 18-34 Male Audience

Advertisers Include RealNetworks; Exclusive Publisher Partnerships Include Vivendi Universal Games, Ubisoft, Legacy Interactive

NEW YORK, Oct. 18 PRNewswire -- Massive Incorporated today launched the world's first video game advertising network, giving top global brands a new opportunity to deliver dynamic advertising campaigns across a network of titles and genres to reach the 18-34 year old male audience that is increasingly difficult to reach through television and other existing advertising channels.

Said Massive CEO Mitchell Davis, "After more than two years of development, we're pleased to be launching the Massive Video Game Advertising Network right on schedule. The enthusiasm and support we've received from both game publishers and advertisers proves that we're delivering just what they've been waiting for: a way to make in-game advertising as simple as traditional channels-and even more powerful."

The Massive Video Game Advertising Network allows advertisers to simultaneously reach an aggregated audience of gamers through real-time delivery of advertising across an entire network of top-selling video games, enabling brand marketers to tap into the nation's largest entertainment industry using a familiar model that is similar to purchasing television advertising. The Massive Network delivers ads seamlessly into the gaming environment with no impact on game play or performance, making in-game advertising painless and unobtrusive for gamers, publishers, and advertisers alike. The company also announced that the first advertiser to participate in the network is RealNetworks, Inc., the leading creator of digital media services and software.

Game publisher relationships already in place will allow Massive to serve ads into more than 15 titles and reach a weekly audience of close to two million young men, equivalent to other media buys reaching this audience. Massive has already signed exclusive in-game advertising agreements with Vivendi Universal Games, Ubisoft, and Legacy Interactive.

"VU Games' vast library of franchises offers rich context and a very attractive audience for a broad range of advertisers," Said Ed Zobrist, Group Vice President, Global Marketing at Vivendi Universal Games. "Partnering with Massive will provide us with strategic opportunities to add to the immersive gameplay experience of our products."

The Massive Network addresses a fundamental gap in today's advertising industry. While audiences for traditional channels like network television and mass-market magazines continue to decline, especially among the coveted 18-34 year old male demographic, the popularity of video games is growing rapidly. In fact, the $10 billion that U.S. consumers spend each year on video game cartridges, software, consoles, and accessories is greater than the annual take at movie theater box offices. According to the ESA, in 2003 more than 239 million computer and video games were sold, or almost two games for every household in America.

Until now, companies seeking to reach the highly involved, focused, and demographically attractive gamer audience have not been able to do so in a way that met their needs. Instead global brands have been forced to gamble on static placements in individual game titles with limited ability to target, tune, or time their ads according to broad campaign needs and objectives. As a result, the amount spent on video game advertising has lagged far behind other media; while advertisers spent $12 billion in 2003 on TV ads targeting the 18-34 male, they spent only $10 million to reach them through video games. The Massive Video Game Advertising Network will be a key enabling technology and business model to drive the emergence of an in-game advertising market that will rival traditional television and other advertising channels.

By simultaneously delivering ads in real-time across an entire network of top-selling titles, the Massive Video Game Advertising Network provides advertisers with broad reach coupled with precise audience segmentation capabilities. Advertisers can fine-tune their targets according to consumer demography, title genre, behavioral data, day part, and other dimensions. Like the placements themselves, this strategy can be changed instantly to meet evolving campaign and brand priorities.

"We wanted to capitalize on the strong momentum we have in our music business with some innovative and cost effective advertising," said RealNetworks VP of Marketing Adam Selipsky. "The test we are running with Massive enables us to put the Rhapsody brand in front of a very attractive audience and take full advantage of the strengths of the video game medium: interactivity, immersiveness, scalability, and intense user involvement."

The technology backbone behind the Massive Video Game Advertising Network is Massive's patent pending ad serving technology, a client-server system that dynamically delivers advertising into video games within the Massive Network, and measures and reports results. Once integrated into a game, the Massive client library pulls down advertising from the Massive Server in the background of game play and reports every time an ad is seen. Massive manages ad campaigns on the back-end to meet advertiser requirements such as airing ads only during Primetime or on Sunday nights, or to specific segments within the network, as well as to ensure reach and frequency goals are met. The entire process is invisible to the player and optimized so as to not impede game play or online performance.

With the Massive Video Game Advertising Network, ad campaigns requiring quick reach, specific timing, audience micro-segmentation, and quantifiable CPM are possible for the first time. In addition to opening new revenue opportunities, the Massive Network captures valuable insight into game play to further the creative development process.

"Video games have evolved far beyond niche status; they're now one of the most powerful economic forces in the entertainment industry," said Jay Cohen, VP Publishing at Ubisoft. "With Massive, we can reach our full potential as an advertising medium, helping companies reach today's harder-to-find young consumers while bringing in our share of advertising dollars."

About Massive Incorporated
Massive Incorporated is the creator of the world's first video game advertising network. Massive delivers dynamic advertising to M18-34 gamers and allows publishers and advertisers to finally capitalize on the largest cultural and economic entertainment force in the world. With its patent-pending technology, Massive dynamically serves advertising across the largest aggregated network of premier video game titles and delivers measured results on consumer interaction with this brand messaging. Massive is backed by DFJ Gotham, DFJ New England, RRE Ventures, Tobat Capital, and Newlight Associates.

http://www.massiveincorporated.com.