Though Electronic Arts (EA) had spoken of in-game advertising in The Sims 3 prior to its release, for the last few weeks since its launch gamers haven't noticed anything, leading to speculation the plan had been canned. Turns out this is not exactly the case, it may have just been a matter of finding the appropriate investors. The company announces today then a multimilliion-dollar marketing agreement with the Dr. Pepper people, which includes product placement deals for the drink within its games, starting with The Sims 3. The campaign is launching early 2010.

As far as in-game advertising goes, it appears this is done about as tactfully as it can be: the content is 'opt-in', going the way of cereal and snack packs and all those wonderful things, that is, if you pick up certain Dr. Pepper products in-store, these will come with codes for exclusive downloadable content (DLC) to be had from The Sims 3 community site. So in short, anyone that feels the need to drink a real-life branded drink in a virtual world can do so, while the rest of us continue about our virtual day as usual.

"The Sims team is particularly excited about this offering because the Dr Pepper team shares our passion for introducing its brand to our player community in ways that will add to the players' experience," said Steve Seabolt, Vice President of Global Brand Development for The Sims. "This will include exclusive downloadable content available via our TheSims3.com community site. We have huge confidence that this 'opt-in value add' will have our players thinking very kindly of the Dr Pepper brand."

"We're proud to partner with an innovative marketing company like Dr Pepper that has such a rich heritage," said Elizabeth Harz, Senior Vice president of Global Media Sales for Electronic Arts. "EA is always looking for new ways to reach its fans, and by aligning with Dr Pepper, we're able to offer consumers premium content that enhances the gaming experience."

"The first-of-its-kind partnership with EA will give Dr Pepper fans an unrivaled experience by adding exclusive value to their games such as new levels and items," said Tony Jacobs, Vice President of Marketing for Dr Pepper. "EA is the only media company that could reach our target audience with the breadth and depth of titles for gamers on any gaming platform."

Other facets of the campaign, such as "co-branded retail initiatives" will roll out afterward; we'll have the appropriate announcements for you when the time comes.