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Interstitial advertising in a gaming environment

Interstitial advertising in a gaming environment description/claims

The subject of the disclosure relates generally to advertising within a gaming environment. More specifically, the disclosure relates to a method and computer-readable medium for in-game interstitial advertising which is implemented without modifying the game's source code.

Game developers have traditionally generated their revenue from game sales. However, in recent years, in-game advertising has been utilized to provide game developers with a secondary revenue stream. In-game advertising generally refers to inserting paid advertisements into a game such that the advertisements can be displayed to a player of the game. Traditionally, the advertisements are inserted into the game by incorporating a third party software development kit (SDK) or other code into the source code of the game. As such, the advertisements can be presented to the player as billboards within the game, as banners within the game, as trademarks placed on products which are used during the game, etc.

Because in-game advertisements are incorporated into the source code, advanced planning and programming is required during the game development phase to implement in-game advertising. For example, placing advertisements on billboards within a gaming environment requires programmers to set aside space for and/or create billboard surfaces within the source code. As a result, game programmers require more time to create the game. Unfortunately, this additional time spent developing the game pushes back the release date of the game and increases the overall cost of placing the game on the market. Incorporating advertisements into the source code also limits the ability of game developers to add advertisements to games which are already on the market. To place advertisements in released games, the game developers must hire programmers to rewrite the game's source code, re-package the game, and/or redistribute the game.

Thus, there is a need for an in-game advertising method which allows a game developer to insert advertisements into a game without advanced planning or modification of the game's source code. Further, there is a need for an in-game advertising method which allows a game developer to easily incorporate advertisements into a game which is already on the market.

A method of advertising within a game is provided in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. The method comprises identifying a frame of the game, wherein the frame is capable of receiving an advertisement. The identified frame can be presented to a player of the game before, during, or after game play. A time when the identified frame is presented to a player of the game is determined. The method further comprises rendering an advertisement over at least a portion of the frame at the determined time.

In another exemplary embodiment, a method of advertising within a game is provided. The method comprises identifying a frame of a game, wherein the frame is capable of receiving an advertisement. Requests from the game to a graphics library are monitored to identify a time when the game requests a graphical element which is associated with the frame. Advertisement display logic is used to render the advertisement on a surface which overlays at least a portion of the frame at the identified time.

A computer-readable medium having computer-readable instructions stored thereon that, upon execution by a processor, cause the processor to render an advertisement is also provided in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. The instructions include identifying a frame of a game, wherein the frame is capable of receiving an advertisement. A time is determined when the identified frame is presented to a player of the game. Further, an advertisement is rendered over at least a portion of the frame at the determined time.

Other principal features and advantages will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon review of the following drawings, the detailed description, and the appended claims.

Exemplary embodiments will hereafter be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating operations performed by an interstitial advertising system in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an advertisement overlaid on a receiving frame in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an advertisement overlaid on a game pause frame in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an advertisement overlaid on a startup frame in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

• Provisional Patent
• Utility Patent

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