After receiving backlash from players, the developer who was set up as a pilot project to test Facebook’s plan to put adverts inside Oculus VR games has reversed its decision.
Facebook announced in the past few days that it would begin putting ads in players’ headsets, starting with paid-for game Blaston.
There were no other titles listed to participate. Resolution Games, the makers of the game, have now clarified that in-game advertising “is not appropriate for the game.”
A statement from CEO Tommy Palm to media outlets said the company understood gamers’ complaints.
Our mission at Resolution Games has always been to work to help the industry as a whole move VR forward for the good of everyone involved. Sometimes that means being the first to test some things to see what works and what doesn’t.
We appreciate all of the feedback and thoughts on the Oculus ad test for Blaston and other games that was announced last week. Some good points have been made, and we realize that Blaston isn’t the best fit for this type of advertising test. Therefore, we no longer plan to implement the test in Blaston. As an alternative, we are looking to see if it is feasible to move this small, temporary test to our free game, Bait! sometime in the future.
We love this domain as much as the most avid players. If ads in VR become inevitable as it has on other platforms, we want to ensure that while we have this chance to start over and do it right, we do just that. We welcome any and all your feedback along the way so we can have a constructive conversation around this and create the best path forward.
Tommy Palm, CEO
In his response, he said they might end up testing Bait – a free fishing game. It raises the ever-present question of what is acceptable to a consumer. Should paid-for games include in-game ads?
Last year EA received public backlash for IGA in their MMA game which hasn’t since resurfaced after they said they would discontinue them.
It didn’t take long for the backlash to begin. Reviews for Blaston were promptly bombed in online stores, both with Oculus and with Steam.
In addition to the two developers already mentioned, Facebook has already said additional developers will participate in the test.