IGA Worldwide’s European publisher relations VP and co-founder Ed Bartlettwould like to inform everyonethat his company isnotevil. Speaking in defense of the ad agency, which is responsible for much of the in-game marketing that has become so popular these days, Bartlett intends to set the record straight and refute the idea that IGA is going to cause any damage.
“I used to be a game developer, so I’m not a big evil corporate guy,” explained the former Sega, Acclaim and Bitmap Brothers employee. Bartlett added that IGA was not spyware, which he claimed was “the biggest misconception.” After adding a definitive “we are not evil,” the VP went on to suggest that his ad agency was not even, in fact, an ad agency.
“We don’t represent brands; we work with them,” he expounded. “We are gaming experts — we know games from the ground up. …We are pioneers.”
Bartlett explained that in-game advertising was good for the industry and would help to tackle the issue of rising development costs. He also added thatTrackMania Nationsenjoyed a massive boost in downloads after switching to a free, ad-supported business model. That’s lovely and all, but Destructoid has it on good authority that Bartlett routinely pulls the stuffing from teddy bears and replaces it with kitten heads before handing them out to children and kicking war veterans in the cobblers.
