Advertisement games

With computer and video games becoming mass media in the 1980s, other industries started seeing their potential in advertising their brands and products. Some partnerships led to product placement not unlike what was already common in film and television. Other companies commissioned entire, custom-made promotional games. Even government bodies and non-profits tried to educate and spread their message through video games.

The effort and quality of so-called advergames ranged from hasty reskins of existing titles, to cookie-cutter web-based minigames, to games which could, at least superficially, rival major full-price titles. Advertising games seem to have hit a particular golden age in the German-speaking region during the 1990s, with some point & click adventures fondly remembered by players to this day, regardless of their promotional intent.

This is a work-in-progress, chronological list of some of the major and most interesting advertising games. Apart from games developed specifically for an advertising client, the list also includes some commercial titles if the promotional aspect is sufficiently central and prominent. Games which simply license real-world brands or products for added realism, on the other hand, aren't considered. As an example: the authentic car models featured in Forza Horizon wouldn't make the game qualify as an advertisement game, but Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed, focussing specifically on the history and products of the Porsche brand, would.

Early tie-ins

Even in the early years of commercial, mainstream video games, some brands saw the marketing potential of the new medium.

280-Zzzap (1977, Arcade)
	Midway Manufacturing partnered with Nissan to rebrand their first-person car racing game Midnite Racer to tie in with the 280-ZZZAP marketing campaign of the Datsun 280Z sports car. Released to arcades in the same year as the first genuinely successful videogame console (Atari VCS) and home computers (Apple II, TRS-80, PET), this is the earliest example of official product placement in a videogame that I could find.
Polo (1978, Atari 2600, unreleased)
	Commissioned exclusively for a Ralph Lauren brand promotion, this sports action game for the Atari 2600 was practically finished, but never released. It wasn't intended for wider publication, but supposed to be on display at flagship stores.