Electronic Arts has officially launched EA Advertising, a new platform that the company says will enable brands to more directly connect with players of its games – by integrating them “directly into gameplay”.

Announcing the initiative, EA claimed its new platform would transform “how brands connect with audiences through digital and real-world experiences across its global portfolio of games.” More specifically, it’s envisaging “dynamic, real-time” ad placements that it insists will “enhance, not disrupt, the player experience.”

EA broadly refers to these placements as “interactive gameplay environments”, and EA Sports is, unsurprisingly, at the core of this initiative. The publisher is offering “native ad units” in sports games, which include the sort of billboards, scoreboards and other branded overlays you may already be familiar with. Additionally, it has outlined a Partner Program – a “new model for how brands participate in sports culture” that it describes as going “beyond traditional sponsorships into co-created fan experiences” in, around, and beyond games.

EA is also planning other forms of in-game brand advertising that’ll include challenges, “reward-driven” objectives, and other bits of branded gameplay content. EA says advertisers will have the opportunity to respond to player engagement; updating objectives and adding extra in-game content – such as skins – as the campaign goes on.

EA has, of course, repeatedly flirted with in-game advertising over the years. It initially started nearly two decades (!) ago with simple in-game billboard ads in Burnout Paradise and other games, but the company’s approach has evolved significantly since then.

EA Sports games are drenched in advertising, in part because they mirror the real-world sports they’re based on, but EA has taken it a few steps beyond that in recent years. The worst example is perhaps UFC 4, which included full-screen, unskippable ads in action replays. The company later took them down after fan backlash.

EA has increasingly delivered sponsored in-game challenges across its games, too. Last year, the company partnered with Redbull on a series of in-game challenges in Battlefield 6.

EA’s decision to unite its brand advertising activity under a formal new banner certainly isn’t surprising, especially after it told investors in 2024 that it’s looking at advertising as “a meaningful driver of growth.” It is, however, unfortunate that the practice has become so normalised even platform holders are reportedly considering offering ad-supported tiers of their services.