Microsoft Corp. said on Wednesday it will pipe advertisements into a slate of popular sports video games from Electronic Arts Inc. including its best-selling "Madden" football franchise.
The deal, which also covers EA's "NASCAR," "Tiger Woods" golf, "NHL" hockey and upcoming "Skate" skateboarding games, is a significant win for Microsoft as it tries to build an early lead over rivals such as Google Inc. in putting ads into video games.
The deal is also the latest indication of increasingly cozy ties between Microsoft, the world's biggest software company and EA, the No. 1 independent video game publisher.
