eMarketer: How do you see the market right now?

Jay Sampson: In-game advertising is being pioneered over time. Video games are the fastest-growing media form. Virgin’s Megastores now attribute 70% of their revenues to games. But in-game ads are still in their infancy. It is a relatively nascent business with a tremendous upside.

eMarketer: There seem to be two divisions to the in-game ad space. One is between PCs and consoles. The other is between casual gamers and hardcore gamers. Are these artificial divisions?

Mr. Sampson: Gamers are gamers. Most gamers play 10 feet from their TVs and 10 inches from their PCs or portable devices. We do distinguish in terms of levels of engagement and immersivenesss when it comes to content, with games played on TVs being more immersive. It's that much more engaging and social than the PC experience. That’s one of the big drivers for us, since communities are now connected.

The ad network covers both console and PC games. Massive is not, in fact, serving live into Xbox Live arcade, but does serve into Xbox games. Massive is fairly platform-agnostic, since we started in PC games. Now, thanks to Microsoft, we have extended into Xbox 360.

eMarketer: Is there a mass-market approach for reaching all gamers?

Mr. Sampson: Gaming is mass market, so the type of content, be it casual Web or deep PC is still all one comprehensive audience base. It's typically young adult males, but it is broadening.

eMarketer: So when someone says they want to reach "gamers," what does that mean to you?

Mr. Sampson: Our content—the games in our network—determines the audience. Right now it's nominally males ages 18 to 34 (actually ages 13 to 34).

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