Xbox games might soon start showing in-game advertisements, increasing the means for advertisers to promote their brands and services on Microsoft's gaming platform.
A visitor plays a game using Microsoft's Xbox controller at a flagship store of SK Telecom in Seoul on November 10, 2020.
Xbox In-Game Ads
In-game ads are reportedly coming to the free-to-play games on Xbox, as per a news story by IGN. Players of these free games could start seeing ad placements during the gaming sessions sometime in the third quarter of 2022.
Meanwhile, according to a recent report by ComicBook.com, back in the day, gaming titles featured a shameless way of placing ads, wherein the promotional materials were stuffed into the billboards inside the game.
In-game ads were famously seen in games like Burnout Paradise and Saints Row 2. That was back before promotions have become less straightforward like how Fortnite is now doing with its endless crossovers every now and then, which markets upcoming movies or series.
This time around, Microsoft is reportedly bringing back the in-game ads to the free games on Xbox.
However, it is interesting to point out that the Redmond-based tech giant reportedly does not have any plans to profit from the more intrusive ads on free Xbox games. In addition to that, Microsoft does not even intend to take any cut from the in-game ads revenue.
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Instead, the ads on Xbox games are meant to be an extra income-making avenue for both the developers and publishers of the free games, as well as the ad firms.
So, it turns out that Microsoft is pushing in-game ads to give developers giving away their games for free to have an opportunity to make a profit from it.
IGN said in the same report that Microsoft has been working on the in-game ads project for years already. The plans to stuff ads on free Xbox games reportedly have been in the works since 2018.
Microsoft's Xbox logo is seen during the worldwide release of the Xbox Series X gaming console at an electronics store in Tokyo on November 10, 2020.
But in 2020, in time for the epic release of the next-generation gaming consoles, the Xbox Series S/X, the plans for the in-game ads were said to have been accelerated.
It appears that in-game ads are coming to Xbox this 2022 after years of creating the system for it.
Microsoft's Response to Xbox In-Game Ads
The tech giant has yet to confirm if in-game ads are actually going to see the light of day on its free Xbox games sometime in the Fall of this year.
As per the latest report by Business Insider, a spokesperson of Microsoft responded to the report by saying, "We are always looking for ways to improve the experience for players and developers."
Despite that, the Microsoft spokesperson did not elaborate further and only added that they do not "have anything further to share."
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