The new agency is known as IGA Partners, and has offices in London, New York and Berlin, with plans to launch in Paris, Los Angeles, Tokyo and Benelux.
IGA Partners will plan, serve and trace ad campaigns in its global network of live PC and videogame titles, through its own ad-serving technology. It says that it will let clients reach millions of end-users, who will receive targeted advertising during and between gameplay sessions. The formats include billboards, interstitial screens and TV spots.
It is being launched by IGA Worldwide, following its acquisition of Hive Partners, which was founded in 2003. IGA Worldwide is behind the technology that allows the ads to be served, while Hive is a creative agency specialising in the medium.
Ed Bartlett, founder of Hive Partners, will take the role of vice-president of publishing at IGA Partners.
"It's been incredibly exciting helping to kick-start this new industry over the past couple of years with Hive, but it's been a dot within a dot compared with what is yet to come. My feeling is that in-game advertising will help to finally establish videogames as the dominant entertainment medium of the 21st century," he said.
The launch of IGA Partners follows the news that Massive Network, a US in-game advertising agency, is moving into Europe. The company has partnered with Nielsen Interactive Entertainment to provide viewing data for its in-game advertising.
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