Despite the growth of embedded brands in entertainment media, few theory-based studies have assessed consumer processing of brand placements in games. This study contrasted the influence of media context (play, watch) and psychological response (telepresence) on consumer recall, game liking, and perceived persuasion for real and fictitious brands in a racing game. Results show that playing the game impeded recall, but had no effect on game liking or perceived persuasion across brands. Telepresence and game liking were positively related to perceived persuasion for real and fictitious brands, with telepresence mediating the effect of game liking on perceived persuasion for real brands. Results are explained according to cognitive capacity and media context effects.