One way to start playing in in-game advertising - forget middlemen; buy a game maker. WPP has acquired a minority stake in Dundee, Scotland-based game developer Realtime Worlds for $8.1 million. It’s part of a total $50 million second round funding, led by Maverick Capital and joined by New Enterprise Associates, that’s pitched toward general “continued expansion”.

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Founded in 2002, Realtime Worlds’ founder David Jones previously made Lemmings and Grand Theft Auto, employs over 200 staff and has offices in Boulder, Colorado. A 2006 first round of $31 million came from New Enterprise and the company went on to make the MMOG APB and X-box 360 action title Crackdown.

For WPP, it’s a step further to placing its clients’ ads in new game worlds, without buying a dedicated game ads agency as Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) did with Massive. In 2006, it invested $3 million in WildTangent, a game network that it was already using to display ads in. WPP: “WPP’s investment in Realtime Worlds builds on the interest in new online advertising formats and content.” Other in-game ad nets include IGA.