Nokia and IGA Kick Off In-Game Advertising

Agreement Will Enable IGA To Re-Brand Popular Online Game Football Superstars

IGA Worldwide (IGA), the leading in-game advertising network, announced today cooperation with Nokia and N-Gage, its mobile games service. The Nokia N96 will brand the in-game user interface tool within CyberSport’s popular online game Football Superstars.  

In the virtual world of Football Superstars, everything is controlled by the user interface tool, which is constantly present on screen and is at the centre of the users’ game play experience.

Football Superstars is a free-to-play game created by UK-based company CyberSports. It is the first MMO (massively multi player online game) of its kind, recreating a 3D virtual football world that enables thousands of players to compete with, and against, each other online at the same time whilst also experiencing all the luxury trappings that come with being a top-flight footballer. CyberSports currently has over 250,000 registered users from 172 countries, and is receiving more than 2,000 new registrations per day, highlighting both the popularity of the game and the sport it simulates.
 
“MMO presents one of the most popular gaming genres today, and football is widely considered to be the most popular sport in the world,” said Ed Bartlett, VP Europe at IGA. “Today, the gaming market extends to millions of players – with millions more to come – and represents extraordinary opportunities for consumer brands to reach their customers with innovative in-game promotions.<Nokia’s investment in this dynamic space demonstrates the ever-growing appeal and almost limitless possibilities this medium offers to advertisers and
content partners.”   

“The key objective for Nokia by using in-game advertising in Football Superstars is to drive players to our N-Gage website and download game trials to their compatible handsets,” said William Tepfenhardt, Senior Marketing Manager at Nokia. “IGA integrated a clickable icon on the game’s Nokia N96 to act as a navigation tool, which takes players directly to the Games Showroom section of the N-Gage website.” 

“IGA and CyberSport’s clever integration of the Nokia and N-Gage brand within Football Superstars has ensured the Nokia N96 is crucial to game play, relevant to the virtual environment, and always in users’ eyeshot, which represents premium product positioning for our brand, and a direct link to N-Gage for activating consumers,” continued Tepfenhardt. “Working with a company that so clearly understands our values, vision and market means we’re able to reach out to a customer base extremely effectively.”

Andy Law, Head of Business Development at CyberSports, said: “This is a great deal for us and Football Superstars. Nokia is a high profile brand and one of the most recognisable handset manufacturers in the world. For the first time, users are able to download content for their mobile phone from within a virtual world. The integration of the N96 adds an even more realistic dimension to the game play, further blurring the divide between virtual and the real worlds which is what Football Superstars is all about.” 

The Nokia / IGA campaign is a six-month integration and was booked by Richard Yu, Client Services Director – Global Sales via Ben Poole, Head of international at MediaCom UK.  

IGA’s network offers advertisers access to dozens of games across multiple genres and platforms. IGA also exclusively handles advertising for the stadium billboards and video screens in the virtual world, meaning the opportunities for in-game brand placement are numerous. The Company’s advertising products and metrics are in line with the ad industry and measure ad exposure during game play, including key metrics like minimum time viewed, size and angle thresholds. For more information, please visit: http://www.igaworldwide.com/ 

About IGA Worldwide
IGA Worldwide (http://www.igaworldwide.com) is the world’s leading in-game advertising network. IGA enables advertisers to target millions of highly engaged consumers playing games across a wide range of gaming platforms and genres. IGA Worldwide was selected by Sony Computer Entertainment as the first in-game advertising provider for the PLAYSTATION®3 and is partnered with leading game companies such as Activision, Atari, Codemasters, Electronic Arts, id Software and Valve Software.  The company has delivered campaigns for a broad range of brands such as 20th Century Fox, Gillette, Intel, McDonald’s, Puma, Toyota and Unilever. IGA was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in New York City with additional offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Paris and Berlin.  IGA’s financial backers include GE/NBCU, Intel Capital, Morgenthaler Ventures, Easton Capital, DN Capital, KTB Ventures, Translink Capital, Itochu Technology and Sumitomo/Presidio STX.  

About CyberSports

Formed in 2006, CyberSports (http://www.cybersportsworld.com) are focused on their goal of dominating the online sports game market by developing and publishing a new generation of MMOG’s; persistent 3D virtual multi-player sports worlds appealing to the widest possible global audience.

CyberSports Football Superstars is a revolutionary MMOG which will bring together the most realistic football simulation ever and a football-based aspirational persistent world. Football Superstars will become the destination of choice for those who love playing and watching football.

For further press information or photography, please contact:
Gemma Rowlan or Louise Waller at LEWIS, the PR agency:
Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7802 2626                             Fax: + 44 (0) 20 7802 2627
Email: gemmar / louisew@lewispr.com         Web: http://www.lewispr.com

For further information on in-game opportunities with Nokia, please contact:

Zohe Mustafa at Nokia

Tel: +44-7500-332-493

Email: zohe.mustafa@nokia.com