Microsoft is reportedly looking into opportunities to add real-world advertising to free-to-play games.
According to the report by Business Insider, (paywall, transcribed by VGC), Microsoft is exploring new ways that would allow its free-to-play developers to earn more money from their players.
“One of the sources speculated Microsoft isn’t currently interested in collecting a cut of ad revenue because it wants to provide more money-making opportunities to developers who make free-to-play games.”
However, Microsoft is aware that this could cause some fan backlash. A similar example that happened recently was when Meta added in-game advertisements to one of its Quest VR titles to test a system that could be rolled out to other games in the future. Fans reacted very negatively, and the program was dropped, but it may return in another form. As such, Microsoft is being mindful of its own deployment.
Microsoft is also “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 gameplay experience.”
