Facebook VR Advertising Struggles - What's Going Wrong?

Facebook's VR Advertising Initiative Faces Early Roadblock

The introduction of advertising onto Facebook’s Oculus virtual reality platform, a project representing billions in investment, appears to have encountered initial difficulties.

Last week, the company revealed plans to integrate its first in-game advertisements within “Blaston,” a title developed by the well-known VR game studio, Resolution Games.

Ad Rollout Abandoned After User Feedback

However, just days following this announcement, Resolution Games communicated that, in response to significant user concerns, they have decided to halt the ad rollout.

A statement posted on the Blaston account via Twitter read: “Following consideration of player feedback, we’ve determined that Blaston is not ideally suited for this advertising test.”

“Consequently, we will no longer proceed with the implementation of the test. We anticipate seeing you in the arena and encourage you to experience the recently released Crackdown Update!”

Strategic Implications of Third-Party Testing

This planned ad rollout was particularly significant as it involved testing within a game from an independent developer.

Facebook has recently acquired several VR studios and possesses ownership of numerous popular Quest titles within its marketplace.

Partnering with a third-party developer presented Facebook with an opportunity to position the advertising rollout as a means for other developers to expand their monetization options, rather than a direct initiative by Facebook itself.

Community Concerns and Paid Titles

The announcement last week still drew criticism from segments of the VR community, concerned about Facebook’s ongoing challenges in balancing advertising with user privacy.

However, a substantial number of users expressed annoyance at the prospect of advertisements appearing within a title they had already purchased.

Blaston is currently available for $9.99 in the Oculus store.

Potential Future Tests in Free-to-Play Games

Update: Resolution Games contacted TechCrunch with a statement, suggesting the possibility of future ad tests within one of their free applications.

“To clarify, we acknowledge that Blaston is not the optimal platform for this type of advertising test.

We are now investigating the feasibility of relocating this limited, temporary test to our free game, Bait!, at a later date.”

Skepticism Remains High

Resolution Games’ decision to abandon the test before its commencement represents an early setback for Facebook’s VR advertising endeavors, highlighting the continued skepticism among the Oculus platform’s most engaged users.

In a blog post last week, Facebook addressed initial concerns regarding the user data that would be utilized for serving advertisements in VR.

The company specifically stated that conversations captured by the headset’s microphone and images analyzed by the onboard tracking cameras would not be employed for this purpose.

Facebook Account Requirement and Quest 2 Success

Facebook faced considerable backlash last year when it announced that new headset owners would be required to have a Facebook account to activate their devices.

Despite the criticism, the recently launched $299 Quest 2 headset has already surpassed the combined sales of all previous Facebook VR devices, according to the company.

We have contacted Facebook for a response.

Facebook's Stance on Developer Monetization

Update #2: “We provide developers with a range of tools and support to enable them to select the options that best suit their long-term business goals – and we respect their choices,” a Facebook spokesperson stated to TechCrunch.

“Ultimately, enabling new revenue streams for developers will contribute to unlocking new content on the Oculus platform and offering products at consumer-friendly prices.

Advertising within applications is just one of the avenues we are exploring to achieve this.”