In-Game Ad Firm IGA Secures New Funding

In-game advertising firm, IGA Worldwide, which was left for dead by many last year as the recession took hold, has earned a new set of lives.The independent firm was forced to put itself up for sale in early 2009 as rumors swirled that the company could go under. And earlier this year, IGA suffered a blow when the giant gaming publisher EA—a key IGA partner—moved to take the majority of its in-game ad business in-house.However, after a major restructuring, IGA has secured new funding from a group of investors, including T-Venture Funds, part of Deutsche Telecom, as well as previous investors Kreos Capital and Easton Capital. While IGA did not disclose figures, sources put the funding in the high seven-figure realm.IGA COO Justin Townsend said that advertiser interest has recently bounced back, and the company is poised to continue to operate well into next year. “It’s been a tough 18 months for the whole ad sector, including in-game,” he said. “But we’ve seen a huge increase in RFPs lately.”In the past several months, as IGA was anticipating receiving funding, Townsend and his team spent time visiting agencies and clients, reassuring them that the company’s business was sound. As a result, Towsend said that IGA has seen renewed interest from categories such as soft drinks, consumer packaged goods and lifestyle brands.“We’ve always stood by the promise and importance of gaming as a medium, and that hasn’t changed for advertisers despite the recession,” he said.Even after a series of prolonged struggles, IGA still claims a solid foothold in the PC gaming market and in games played on Sony’s PlayStation 3. Looking ahead, IGA is promising several new ad formats for the medium.“One thing we’ve seen is that we no longer have to educate buyers on in-game as a medium. Now it’s a line item. And we can position ourselves as a reach buy.”

Performance Marketing

In-Game Ad Firm IGA Secures New Funding

Mike Shields

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