What Happened To Evony?

Come play, my Lord”, the ad beckons. “Save your lover!” it cries, as two seductive porcelain-skinned women lean into each other. “Start your journey now, my Lord”, says another ad, this one featuring a busty, blonde bombshell in the process of removing her clothes. Any of this ring a bell?

The year was 2009. Ads began appearing on the internet for a game called Civony, later renamed Evony. They started innocently enough – “Free Forever” one banner ad claimed while an image of a knight wielding a sword took up half the ad. Then a woman appeared. “Start your journey now, my Lord!” this ad said, an attractive woman dressed as a fairy standing to the side. Over the next few months, the ads became progressively more risqué, first featuring CGI women displaying ample bosom, proceeding to real models undressing. Eventually the medieval theme of the ads was abandoned and replaced with models in lingerie.

The internet was buzzing with criticism over Evony’s advertising. Many people were upset that such sexualised images were being used to market a game, with claims being made that it was a poor Civilization clone that wasn’t worth anyone’s time. It was a controversial ad campaign that attracted criticism from both the game development and game playing community alike. It was also a successful one.