MCV.com have reported that Microsoft are on the verge of acquiring in-game ad firm Massive Incorporated for an estimated price of between $200-$400 million.

The Massive Network provides unprecedented access to the gaming audience through dynamic and targeted delivery of ad messages; they’ve already secured a number of high-profile clients such as 2K sports, Atari, Codemasters, Eidos, Konami, Ubisoft and Vivendi.

This will mean a huge increase in in-game advertisements which, for some, already feels like an unwelcome intrusion - but will advertising really encroach on our gameplay experience?

At certain levels advertising within games is subtle, such as on a billboard or a poster on a wall, but we’re heading a totally different direction. The adverts will become more frequent and more ‘in your face’ then you could possibly imagine.

Cutscenes will provide an opportunity for product placement, and we may even see these scenes becoming full commercials for specific products. There’s even talk of banner advertising on games that are played over the Internet. The way that companies are advertising is evolving, online games may soon boast interactive ads – just click on the banner or poster and you’ll be able to view the product in more detail. This type of advertising could lead to tracking software being implemented that would allow your data to be sold to other companies.

It’s only natural that the way companies advertise will progress, but gamers are extremely aware that it could end up much like the intrusion that we suffer every day on our T.V sets.

Have you ever watched U.S television? They have a ridiculous number of advertisements during and in between shows, if you’ve ever watched the Superbowl you’ll know that this number significantly increases in order to maximise profit. The Wall Street transcript revealed that the ‘average time spent consuming advertising with a video title is 110 hours versus 20 hours for football.’ Thanks to companies such as Massive Incorporated the advertisers have been re-awakened, they now recognise the potential in games and have an outlet to promote their wares. It’s not unreasonable to suggest that future games, such as Halo 3 could be the Superbowl of gaming, in more ways than one. Games are just as important to the moneymakers, and more in some cases, than Hollywood movies, so it makes sense that there will be more advertisements in these huge titles.

Activion's CEO, Bobby Kotick, gave us a taste of what's to come when he told Indian television.com that, "Video games will soon be as mainstream an advertising medium as television."He's right, and it's happening right now.

At Massive they conducted a survey of gamers between the ages of 12 and 16, 70% of these people said that, “real-world advertising would positively enhance a game's realism, provided the ads and ad placement were appropriate to the game and fun”. But who decides whether an advert is appropriate or not? – the guys who are profiting from the advertising, of course! Surely their judgement, especially when huge amounts of money is involved, will be clouded by their greed?

The option to be able to choose whether you want to be subjected to advertising should be given, and would be relatively easy to incorporate. If not, the games companies could witness an unwelcome backlash if advertisements are not dealt with in the correct manner.

On the flip side, the costs of games are rising, and the revenue generated from advertising could ensure that developers have more money to pour into the coffers for better games. That's what we all want, isn't it?

One thing’s for sure, the fact that Microsoft are now in on the act, means that in-game advertising will only get bigger, let's just hope they don't take the p*ss.