After agreeing to be Facebook's first VR ad test partner, Resolution Games says it won't move forward with the test in its paid VR game Blaston
Resolution Games won't be moving forward with a Facebook advertising test in its paid VR game Blaston. — The studio may still consider testing ads in its free fishing game Bait!
The decision also arrives as Facebook has expanded its VR content footprint through acquisitions including Ready at Dawn, making the distinction between platform-level monetization plans and third-party studios’ game choices more consequential.
First-order effects
Facebook loses Blaston as the first announced game for its VR ad test, while Resolution Games keeps advertising out of its paid game.
Resolution Games retains the option to test ads in Bait!, placing any near-term experiment in its free-to-play catalog rather than its paid catalog.
Second-order effects
Facebook’s VR ad rollout must find another participating title or adapt its test around a free game if Resolution Games proceeds with Bait!.
For VR developers, Resolution Games’ split between Blaston and Bait! makes game business model a practical boundary for whether in-game ads are acceptable.
Third-order effects
If other studios follow the paid-versus-free distinction, VR advertising will develop first as a monetization layer for free experiences rather than a standard feature of premium games.
Facebook’s combination of headset distribution, ad testing, and VR studio ownership points toward a platform model in which content control can shape how quickly new monetization formats reach users.
The trend: VR platforms are testing whether advertising can fund free experiences without undermining the premium-game economics developers rely on.
After listening to player feedback, we realize that Blaston isn't the best fit for this type of advertising test. Therefore, we no longer plan to implement the test. We look forward to seeing you in the arena and hope you try the Crackdown Update that went live today!
To make it clear, we realize that Blaston isn't the best fit for this type of advertising test. As an alternative, we are looking to see if it is feasible to move this small, temporary test to our free game, Bait! sometime in the future.
WOW. so Trump can still spend millions on @Facebook ads while he is “suspended” for using the platform to incite an insurrection. https://twitter.com/...
@BlastonGame V respectable @resolutiongame. I'd planed to reserve judgement til trying it myself & hoped fellow players would also show such restraint. But seeing that you acted on the feedback you received is v encouraging. This kind of advertising seems better suited for a free…
Either way, the obvious thing for FB to do in this situation would have been to field test their ads bullshit in their own fucking games first, so that if anything has gone awry, they would have been the sole receiver of said blow back.
Either FB genuinely didn't think there'd be blowback to the Blaston vr ads thing, in which case they're just bad at being a platform steward. Or they did and decided it'd be better to have a 3rd party catch the buckshot, in which case they're a horrendous platform steward.
@OXIOXIForever @irishladd312 @BlastonGame And as much as I hate the hate (???) That Blaston has gotten, the message is clear; VR Community does not want ads. I'm just glad the Resolution devs actually made the choice to listen to the outcry, rather than waiting for the test itsel…
Ads in VR is not a popular decision, and @BlastonGame developer @resolutiongame is backing out of the initial Facebook ads trial after hearing lots of player feedback. (h/t @AntonHand) https://twitter.com/...
@BlastonGame @bmfshow Thank you! Facebook can't annoy people with ads if developers don't go along with it. You've earned yourself tons of loyal fans today.
Glad @tommy_palm responded to the community outcry over his companies scummy tactics of putting ads in a paid game after people have purchased it. Resolution Games will not be using Blaston as the trial game but will try use Bait! instead (as that *is* a free game). Good! #VR htt…
Andddddd backtracked. Good but also I do believe that ads have a space in propelling vr forwards, especially in social oriented games like Neos and VRChat https://twitter.com/...
Would still love to speak to y'all about this. Shooting an email to Jamie soon. For better or for worse I do think you are champions to take the chance. Regardless if you went through with it or not, it takes absolute raw guts to put your neck out there You are 💯 https://twitter.…