Almost a year ago the internet was abuzz (like a swarm of hungry electronic bees) about the Subway ads that had infiltrated PC shooter piece de resistance, Counterstrike. Valve, creators of Halflife and hangers-on of Counterstrike, took swift, public action in complaining like a young girl with a skinned knee, and the ads went away.
Until now. *cue dramatic orchestral swell*
In a recent interview with Valve’s Doug Lombardi, CS-Nation came to find out that Valve and IGA have reached an agreement to slip their own ads into your gamespace. These ads are going to start popping up in servers around the virtual world early next year. The ads will not be optional, you will never be able to un-see them and Valve’s soul is now forfeit to the Old Gods of Commerce (Cthulhu Moneypenny, and Pazuzu Bagocash).
While Monsignore Lombardi goes on to say that he believes the ads will provide a new avenue through which mod makers can make cash (after all, the original Counterstrike was created by two nerds with far too much free time and a vague idea that a woman’s vagina might look like Admiral Ackbar), you can imagine that Valve is getting a little moist over the increased revenue that bombarding the largest audience of online gamers in the history of mankind might bring them.
I know that some of you are going to accuse me of rampant communism and you may even turn me over to the long dead corpse of Joe McCarthy, but I hate this idea. Counterstrike was the ultimate example of the Internet’s power to promote free expression and community among people all over the world and by cashing in on it, Valve has just kicked the metaphorical puppy of it’s own fans’ trust.
(Editor’s Note: Possible alternate titles for this article include: “Counterstrike Ads Part 2: The Revengening!” and “Seriously, this was just an excuse to post a picture of Cthulhu”. — Nex)
