Posting this since a firestorm of activity has recently lit up social media. People in the game industry, big and small have been taking sides and weighing their opinions. I happen to think it's a discussion worth having.

 

Somehow, some people are under the impression that ads are good.

— Markus Persson (@notch)

August 26, 2013

 

Here's the bottom line: Ads are costing you MORE than subscription would, or the ad people would never pay for you to watch them.

— Markus Persson (@notch)

August 26, 2013

 

Don't get me wrong. Ads are useful for certain things, and sometimes entertaining to watch on their own. But they're not "free".

— Markus Persson (@notch)

August 26, 2013

The video is long and I'm fairly confident no one will watch it all the way through. That's fine. I'd only ask that you watch the first few minutes and see if it interests you. It really is quite fascinating and a bit scary.

It is fascinating. I'm about half way into it so far, but I can see the scary parts.  Some of the advertising goals alone are scary, but the scariest part is how it drives our culture.  I suppose it's not entirely unexpected, but it's still scary where they keep trying to push it.  Makes me think that we're not too far off from the advertising worlds that some science fiction movies depict. 

 

Wasn't sure where he was going until the end, but it was an interesting watch.