Historically, video game companies have marketed games, especially ads, to, let's just say, the more simple-minded and, for the lack of a better word, gullible, young male audiences. It's partly the reason why several trade shows use scantly clad female brand representatives to try and attract people to their booths. Thankfully, this has changed over the past decade, thanks in part to the GamerGate scandal that brought to the public eye some of gaming's glaring issues when it comes to its portrayal of women. But, just in case you needed a reminder, we've got something that will take you all the way back to the late 90s.
As uncovered by MaxKatarn on Reddit, Eidos Interactive used a particularly revealing old XXX ad for Tomb Raider 3 to market the 1998 title.
Upon further inspection, it appears that the ad isn't exclusive to the user's old French magazine. Other users confirmed that a similar ad appeared in the PlayStation magazines in the United Kingdom and even used as the January 1999 cover of Expert Gamer, which was a popular video game magazine in the United States that ran from August 1998 to October 2001.
With gaming and the internet both still at their relative infancy, video game companies and publishers couldn't exactly advertise games from everywhere they wanted, unlike today when Diablo 4 and Final Fantasy 16 can tap billboards over at the New York Times Square or display a real-life replica of the protagonist's sword at the Tower of London. Instead, a lot of them had to get creative. Without 15-second ads on YouTube, most relied on a combination of barely-clothed female models and the inexplicably exposed breasts to try and sell their products.