Valve has just confirmed in a interview with CS-Nation.net that advertisements will be inserted in Counter-Strike 1.6 in the near future, something that will not be optional, as Valve stressed.

Taking Google as an example, Valve explains that the advertisement system will contribute to the development of the gaming industry in ways never seen before. These ads will begin in Counter-Strike 1.6 because "the main attraction for potential advertisers is the audience size" of this game.

Although the launch date for the advertisement system is still unknown, Doug Lombardi, Marketing Director in Valve, confirmed that all players "can expect to start seeing them [advertisements] appear early next year."

Anyone interested in advertising in the game will be able to do it. "IGA will be the company selling the advertising space", and whoever wants to advertise, has only to contact that company.

Valve plans on placing ads in several different places. There will be advertisements put in the game maps, scoreboard screens and the letterboxed area in the Spectator mode.

Along with this announcement, Lombardi revealed that some changes may come to Counter-Strike:Source. Valve plans on introducing a new pricing system, making changes in weapons (mainly pistols) and introducing "new voice chat features which will eventually apply to both versions of the game."

The complete interview can be found here.