Are you ready to see ads within your games? This could be a reality in a few months. According to Insider, Microsoft is working on a program that will allow “select brands” display advertising within free titles from Xbox.
Those of Redmond, according to the sources consulted by the media, are aware that the ads could “irritate” the players or interrupt the games, so they will try to avoid that feeling of disgust with more discreet advertising.
The announcements would arrive this same year
Microsoft would be looking for ad technology companies for its new program. The goal of these partnerships would be to create the system that allows brands to publish and manage ads in free Xbox games.
Brands could choose different media to display their ads, mainly integrated into the game. For example, within the billboards of a racing game or the advertising spaces themselves in open world games.
At the moment there are not many details about the way in which the advertising will be displayed, so it is not known if the advertising messages will also reach skins or if these, in general, will include multimedia content with video or audio, and not just images. static.
Sources say that Microsoft would not intend to keep part of the revenue from its advertising program. Instead, its goal would be to developers and advertising companies can share the revenue.
They also indicate that the Redmond will not use the data they collect with Bing and other of its services to offer targeted ads. This decision would respond to regulatory and privacy issues.
And, for now, it has not been possible to confirm if Microsoft has already started offering its advertising offer to “selected companies”. However, the media indicates that the program could be released sometime in the third quarter of this year.
Microsoft has not referenced these plans, but the company said through a spokesperson: “We are always looking for ways to improve the experience for players and developers, but we have nothing else to share.”
This wouldn’t be the first foray of ads on Microsoft consoles. are currently offered advertising slots on the Xbox home screenwhich go beyond games and can show from streaming platforms or series to restaurants.
Sony, meanwhile, displays game “ads” on the PlayStation home screen, or what they call “curated, personalized content.” That is, users usually see an icon of a game that does not belong to them and clicking on it will prompt them to buy it.
But Microsoft is not the only player in this industry interested in showing ads within games. A company called PlayerWON is working to bring the advertising model that we have seen in free-to-play games from mobiles to PCs and consoles.
That is, the ads will be introduced in video format and full screen in “idle moments” of the game and the users will decide whether to watch them or not. Should they decide to watch them, “they will receive immediate and long-term rewards to use in the game.”
At the moment we do not know if PlayerWon has already reached agreements with console game developers to implement their advertising model there. In any case, there is more than one project looking to bring ads to console games. Time will tell if they are successful or not.
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism