Sony has signed a deal with IGA Worldwide to bring dynamic in-game advertising to its next-generation gaming platform, PlayStation 3.

Through this partnership, Sony hopes to get a share of the rapidly growing worldwide in-game advertising industry, which is expected to grow 1,150 percent to $971.3 million between 2006 and 2011, according to the Yankee Group.

Headquartered in New York with offices in Los Angeles, Connecticut, Austin, London and Berlin, IGA Worldwide is backed by Morgenthaler Ventures, Easton Capital Group, Intel Capital and DN Capital.

IGA Worldwide has developed its own ad serving network, Radial, that enables advertisers to target millions of engaged consumers across a wide range of platforms and genres while they play.

This move seems to be an important opportunity for business organizations and brands for targeting the youth demographic and sending their message. This agreement also seems to say that the time of in-game advertising has finally come, as the new media are extremely innovative and accessible on the market.

According to Nielsen Interactive Entertainment, a significant proportion of male gamers agree that advertising in video games helps them to decide which products to buy. "Ads that are organic to the environment not only benefit developers and advertisers, but also create a richer experience for gamers," said Phil Rosenberg, Senior Vice President, SCEA.

Earlier this year, IGA Worldwide has signed a partnership with id Software to offer in-game ads in id’s forthcoming free-to-play Quake Live game, based on its previously released multiplayer-focused Quake Arena.

Two years ago, in 2006, Microsoft paid an undisclosed sum for Massive Inc, a company that also serves in-game ads.