Yesterday, USA Network launched the first episode of seven-mission online game based on its Burn Notice, Covert Ops hit show on its TV network. The plot of the game, Covert Ops: Vegas Heist, ties in with the unfolding drama on the show and it integrates the show’s major advertiser, Hyundai.
And earlier this week, USA Network launched a similar game, White Collar: Chasing the Shadow, based on the plot of its White Collar TV show. Sewn into the story is the show’s major advertiser, Ford Taurus. In both games, players try to unravel a mystery related to the show’s plot and travel through the same environments as the show. The games have plenty of live-action video that uses the actors from the show as well.
These efforts show that games have become an integral part of the network’s strategy for making money, said Jesse Redness, vice president of digital at USA Network in New York, in an interview.
“We’re taking the blockbuster shows with ratings and marrying them with what we call immersive games,” he said.
The new launches are part of a larger investment in games that kicked off with the launch of a social games portal in July, 2009. Seven months later, the Character Arcade portal has 50 games and 500,000 unique visitors a month, or about 20 percent of the traffic that comes to USA Network’s web site. The games have drawn 17 million page views. USA Network, a division of NBC Universal, is the top free cable network and is available in 98.5 million U.S. homes.
The Covert Ops: Vegas Heist game launched at the same as the new season of the TV show, which is one of the most popular on cable TV. Fans drive a Hyundai Genesis Coupe through various spy-focused adventures in a seven-week series of missions. Players who complete all seven missions will be eligible to enter a sweepstakes to win a new car. Using the advertiser in both the show and online games is what media folks call 360-degree brand integration. USA Network worked with Omelet, a Los Angeles ad agency, to make the game. Burn Notice is in its third season and has 9.1 million viewers, making it the No. 1 scripted show on cable.
The White Collar: Chasing the Shadow game lets the player become an FBI trainee, tracking down the show’s bad guy, the White Shadow, and solving crimes in seven episodes, all the while using a 2010 Ford Taurus to get around. The game shows off the Ford car’s cool Sync system, with features such as sending text messages, a massage seat, and voice controls. The game was developed with show creator Jeff Easin and was created by Glow Interactive. White Collar is a show about a collaboration between an FBI agent and a con artist and is set in New York City, where the game also takes place.
So far this week, both games have garnered thousands of users. The Chasing the Shadow game got a big boost after USA Network aired a teaser commercial during the show’s season premiere. Many users are connecting via Facebook Connect, since the Chasing the Shadow game allows you to import pictures of your friends who then become suspects in the game. Redniss said the engagement by gamers is high, with average session times at 15 minutes. Compare that to the usual engagement time of a 30-second TV commercial.
Be sure to check out our latest announcements on GamesBeat@GDC, our video game conference taking place March 10 in San Francisco.