Corporate Sponsorship in Tribes 2

Computer games are not just kid stuff any more. Not only are serious gamers older and more dedicated than ever before, a small group of elite gamers are beginning to play competitively for a living. And as the gaming market grows, the number of professional gamers is expected to grow 200% by 2005.

This trend has not been lost on advertisers, who are competing in an increasingly crowded market for smaller attention spans. Always eager to find new ways of hawking their wares, corporations are starting to sponsor teams of professional gamers, much as they sponsor NASCAR racing teams.

For Tribes 2, the first such team is being sponsored by PepsiCo, makers of Pepsi products, Frito-Lay snacks, and Tropicana drinks. The tribe, known as the Pepsickos, joined the OGL wearing custom skins sporting the red-white-and-blue Pepsi "swirl" logo.

Albert Darymple, newly appointed Vice President of Technology Marketing, happily announced this new corporate sponsorship. "PepsiCo has always been a youth-targeted product line, and we are happy to be the leader in the huge, untapped electronic gaming market," said Darymple. "The demographics of this target market are spot on with our product positioning."

Asked about the Tribes 2 team, Darymple admitted, "We're not real happy with the name of our team, but you have to be sort of counter-culture to be cool in gaming. Our advisors tell us that gamers think 'Pepsickos' is 'leet.' I don't know what 'leet' is, but it's supposed to be good, so no problem!"

MountinDoo, captain of the Pepsickos, talked about the sponsorship. "If the man wants to pay us to wear their corporate skins, I say, right on, dude! I mean, when you're out there runnin' off with the enemy flag, it doesn't matter what skin you're wearing," he said. "Geeks don't care who pays your bills, only what rung of the OGL ladder you're on."