British government to recruit agents via video games

Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), a branch of the British Intelligence services, will be placing ads in video games during a one-month campaign set to begin before November. Advertisements aiming to attract new GCHQ recruits will appear in various PC and console games, including titles from the Tom Clancy franchises, Need for Speed Carbon (DS, Wii, PS3, PSP, Xbox 360, PC), and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (PS3, Xbox 360, PC).

GCHQ’s advertising strategy was spurred on by recent research that indicated gamers’ openness to the idea of in-game advertising. The catch, however, is that the copy must be authentic to the game’s environment and must not be intrusive. The advertising move is supposed to give the Government Communications Headquarters added visibility to an audience that’s being served less and less by traditional advertising methods.

A caveat for all you James Bond fans and secret agents-in-training: as of the time of this article’s writing, no specific details had been released yet as what specific types of jobs GCHQ is offering. The ads simply point to the GCHQ website, so don’t load that Walther handgun just yet.

Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), a branch of the British Intelligence services, will be placing ads in video games during a one-month campaign set to begin before November. Advertisements aiming to attract new GCHQ recruits will appear in various PC and console games, including titles from the Tom Clancy franchises, Need for Speed Carbon (DS, Wii, PS3, PSP, Xbox 360, PC), and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (PS3, Xbox 360, PC).

GCHQ’s advertising strategy was spurred on by recent research that indicated gamers’ openness to the idea of in-game advertising. The catch, however, is that the copy must be authentic to the game’s environment and must not be intrusive. The advertising move is supposed to give the Government Communications Headquarters added visibility to an audience that’s being served less and less by traditional advertising methods.

A caveat for all you James Bond fans and secret agents-in-training: as of the time of this article’s writing, no specific details had been released yet as what specific types of jobs GCHQ is offering. The ads simply point to the GCHQ website, so don’t load that Walther handgun just yet.