Screaming Penguin - Source Does Matter

The video game Left Behind seemed destined to tear a giant fiery swath of controversy through the digital landscape. Based on the series of novels of the same name, Left Behind is a Christian-themed game set in New York City, a few years after the arrival of the Anti-Christ and the ascent of one-third of the world's population (presumably the "good third") into heaven. As a player, you must direct and expand the "Tribulation Force," a military organization that attempts to either convert or kill the remaining population.

Yes, this is not your father's Bible Adventures. The game features 3D graphics and a top-down perspective vaguely reminiscent of Origin's classic DOS-era game Crusader. It differs from more common action games in its use of prayer as an instant "power-up" device, and sneaks in several subtle September 11 references (such as the opening cinematics and the use of giant "911" decals on the roofs of in-game ambulances).

Now, as if the game itself was not controversial enough, it has been discovered that the publishers, Left Behind Games (a publicly traded company, even) have added money-changers to their particular temple. The game comes fully loaded with what some would term built-in spyware, in the form of in-game advertising that tracks the amount of time ads are seen, how often the game is played, and the player's geographical and personal information. It then sends this data back to the advertiser's servers. From the horse's mouth:

"All Double Fusion campaigns provide detailed campaign reporting for full accountability, and, unlike other media, advertisers only pay for the time their ads are seen...unlike TV, unlike the web, and unlike print. No medium is more accountable and measurable in terms of the actual time spent with advertising."

Ars

You know, I was actually cosidering getting this game.

Really, taking the thumper aspect out of this, the problem here is they have violated the tradeoff that people WANT in advertising. I think most people realize that in order for advertising to be better targeted and more relevant, you have to give up just a little bit of information. Ad networks can't show you ads you want to see unless the know in what you are interested. This particular system, however, is entirely about the advertisers and offers nothing to the users in terms of value for the information they are proffering.

All in all, though, I am not sure how much this is pretty mundane. I mean, id still has keyservers. They know when you start up the game, if you registered it, who you are and when you connect to what gameserver. The real problem here isn't "spyware" it is the fact that they are actively giving your personal information, and not more impersonal usage and interest data, to their advertisers.