So, players can watch ads and give the company money for free? What a good deal.

Players of City of Heroes and City of Villains will soon have the option to see in-game advertising for real-world products while they play the game. What do they get out of it if they do? Absolutely nothing (beyond the knowledge that they're helping NCsoft better fund their game).

Today we announced our partnership with Double Fusion to provide optional in-game advertising for City of Heroes. I wanted take some time to share some details beyond those in the press release.

In-game advertising is something that we have carefully considered ever since the initial release of City of Heroes in 2004. From our perspective it always came down to a few fundamental questions: Will this technology make our game experience more immersive or less immersive? In other words, is City of Heroes an appropriate environment for it? In-game advertising in other MMOs has sometimes been received as an unwelcome addition, so could we actually find ways to make this a significant win for our customers? And with the plan of reinvesting all the revenue that we make from this, how much will this single (optional in-game advertising) initiative actually allow us to grow our development team?

Share your own thoughts on the development and read more here.

[Via CoH Community site]