The title isn’t bad, and it’s certainly not a dream. It seems like Microsoft is basically leading the charge in terms of ads when it comes to Free to Play games on the Xbox platform. According to a recent report, the gaming and computing giant is essentially working on ways to get brands to advertise things for Xbox users in Free to Play games.
this report comes from Business Insider and, in essence, it says that we will get ads within F2P titles at some point in the future, as Microsoft is developing technologies to do so. This new program will boost Xbox’s limited ad inventory by adding more games for brands to advertise on and allowing more developers to sell ad space.
According to BI sources, Microsoft could implement this feature as early as the third quarter of this year. Ads could manifest as digitally rendered billboards in a racing game or open-world adventure game. Of course, There are other ways ads can be displayed, from non-intrusive to completely intrusive.but it is not known if Microsoft will address these avenues.
When asked about this new venture in Xbox announcements, a spokesperson told Business Insider that “we’re always looking for ways to improve the experience for players and developers, but we have nothing else to share.”
What’s interesting is the revenue side, both BI sources have essentially said that Microsoft doesn’t intend to take a cut of ad revenue and seemed more interested in building out the Xbox ad network. Ad revenue will be shared by the game developer and the ad technology company placing the ad. In other words, it would not benefit Microsoft.
Of course, not everyone will be able to put an ad on Xbox Free to Play games. The sources said that Microsoft is currently concerned about how intrusive these ads might be to gamers. As such, it is moving cautiously and intends to create a “private marketplace,” where only select brands can insert ads into games in a way that doesn’t disrupt the gaming experience.
And for those concerned about the consumer data that Bing (and other apps) already collect through Xbox. The sources also mentioned that Microsoft has no immediate plans to let advertisers use that data to target people on Xbox. It seems that the technology will allow F2P game developers to earn more revenue through their games. Whether or not this works depends on the reception of the players and the community in general.
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