(UPDATED) Level Up! claims ACRC ordered IP e-Games print ad pullout

UPDATE: Editor’s note: IP e-Games has issued a reaction, which has been incorporated in this article.

By Erwin Oliva
INQUIRER.net

LEVEL UP! Philippines said IP e-Games was ordered recently by the Advertising Content Regulation Committee (ACRC) to stop using a print ad.

Level Up! Philippines said the ACRC has asked IP e-Games to discontinue the print ad, “E-GAMES Growing, Evolving, Expanding, Not Stopping.”

IP e-Games officials were unavailable for comment as of this writing.

The decision of the ACRC came after Level Up! contested its rival’s claim through a complaint filed with the AdBoard.

A post-screening session was held on December 7 questioning IP e-Games’ print ad, Level Up! said in a statement.

“The Adboard screening panel ruled that the ad of e-Games was in direct violation of Section 1.1 (Presentation) and Section 6.1/a, 6.2/a and 6.2/b (No. 1 Claim or Leadership Claim), Article IV of the Code of Ethics of Advertising,” Level Up! said.

Reacting to the Level Up! claim, IPVG Corp. chief executive officer Enrique Gonzalez said they will comply with the rules of the AdBoard.

IPVG Corp. is the parent company of online gaming subsidiary IP e-Games.

Gonzales stressed, however, that IP e-Games’ print advertisement is based on a third-party survey, which showed that RAN Online, one of its online games, was the number one massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) in terms of sales and concurrent users.

“IP E-Games fully recognizes the rules and regulations of the AdBoard. However, we would like to emphasize that our ‘No. 1′ position is based on a third-party survey. We are willing to back up our claim that RAN Online is the No. 1 MMORPG in terms of sales and concurrent users,” Gonzalez said.

He said the company will openly challenge Level Up! to also “open themselves to a third-party audit.”

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