http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=34110GAME MAKER Electronic Arts has signed deals with two advert companies to stream live advertising into its games.
EA admits that the advertising will only work on some games and [Need for Speed] is one of them. Another will be the upcoming war game, Battlefield 2142, scheduled for release later this year.
Not having played the beta, does it have similar popup after you have signed in as in BF2 in the main view? That might be a potential place for the adverts.
Having a paid-for application function as an advertising platform does sound a bit intrusive to me, but hey, it's EA. I might be able to live with it IF it's not animated flashes AND I can close the popup immediately, without being forced to view it for X seconds...
Or, if I can get the game for free, I can view the adverts for 15 seconds each time. Even flash animations.