

The decision to add in-game advertising to City of Heroes may alarm players shelling out the game's monthly fee, but NCSoft's Brian Clayton says there's no need to be concerned.

NCSoft's deal with Double Fusion would replace the fake billboards that dot the scenery of Paragon City and the Rogue Isles with genuine, revenue-generating advertisements. The ads should go live some time this summer, but Clayton stresses that it's up to the player whether or not the ads are visible.

"I want to make it very clear that we are not 'forcing' in-game ads upon our players. Thus, the word 'optional' is of key importance. None of our players have to change their game experience in any way if that's what they prefer. All that you need to do is opt-out via the Options menu in the game," he wrote ina post on the City of Heroes web site.

If given the option, why would anyone choose to view the ads? Because 100 percent of the money generated by the ads will go straight back into City of Heroes development, says Clayton.

"Our development costs are ramping up in a major way as we look to literally double the team this year to accommodate big plans for the short, medium and long term. Optional in-game advertising is another revenue stream that helps us to accomplish all of this at no additional expense to our players," he said.

Clayton also pointed out that only "contextually relevant" ads will be permitted by the development team, and nothing that would violate City of Heroes' T rating, such as ads for alcohol or tobacco, will be allowed.

"We will be very careful not to break the immersion and feel of Paragon City or the Rogue Isles," said Clayton. He also suggested that the ability to swap signs in and out dynamically opened up the possibility of putting player-created content or fan art on display.

This should be an interesting experiment. If it all works the way NCSoft says its going to, it could be a relatively painless way for players to give a little bit extra back to the developers, thereby improving their own gaming experience. That said, I expect at least some City of Heroes players are going to be tweaked that they're paying a monthly fee to play a game with advertisements, even if those ads are optional.