PlayStation and God of War Sponsoring First Ad-Free Episode of Family Guy

Before Kratos conquers his enemies in next month’s God of War, he’ll be making his way towards [...]

God of War

Before Kratos conquers his enemies in next month's God of War, he'll be making his way towards some familiar territory – network television.

According to Adweek, Sony has confirmed that it will be sponsoring this Sunday's episode of Family Guy on Fox, with a 60-second "Arrow" ad for God of War running before and after it runs. It will be completely ad-free otherwise, as Sony will serve as the sole sponsor for the episode. This will be the first time in the show's 15-year run that it will not have ads.

This is the latest promotion for the forthcoming action game, which Sony hopes will be one of its biggest PlayStation releases to date.

"This format, verses buying a 30-second ad unit, is appealing as it creates an event feel and offers a more unique approach on how we reach existing and new fans," said Asad Qizilbash, vice president of marketing for PlayStation. "The more we are able to eventize media buys, the bigger impact we see to present PlayStation as a leader in gaming content."

Sony believes that there's a big audience overlap between Family Guy's viewers and action gamers, and feels that this promotion will be within a "critical" point of God of War's launch period.

"When we evaluate media partner opportunities, we look at three things: the right audience alignment, the right time—proximity to launch—and strength and reach of our distinguished partners. Family Guy checked all the boxes," noted Qizilbash.

The episode will feature Sir Ian McKellan as a child psychologist who talks with Stewie, following an encounter with a classmate. No word yet if Kratos will actually pop up in the episode, but it probably would be pretty funny to watch him hit someone and then yell out, "GIGGITY!" at top volume, then storm off.

No word yet as to what Sony has planned next for its God of War promotions, but with the game coming very soon, Kratos madness isn't going to slow down.

God of War releases on April 20 for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro.

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