A new report in Business Insider claims that Microsoft and Sony are considering an advertisement program to allow select brands to advertise in free-to-play Xbox games. However, it is still unclear how these ads will be displayed, but sources privy to it said it might replicate a digitally concise billboard like in car racing games.
Microsoft is treading carefully in this regard as the company doesn’t want to irritate its players or disrupt the game as most gamers are not comfortable with in-game ads. Reports are ripe that PlayStation owner Sony is also planning to follow the cue. Sony aims to encourage game designers to build more free games to boost revenue generation.
According to the reports, Microsoft won’t take a cut from the ad revenue but will concentrate on building the Xbox network. The company will let the game developers and adtech companies share the revenue.
Microsft has started to pitch before advertisers and brands about the new model. Sources privy to the matter said that Microsoft is not interested in ad revenue sharing. The company wants free-to-play game developers to make more money and design better games for its platforms. Speculations are ripe that Microsoft might launch its ad model by the third quarter of this month.
Microsoft is already selling limited ad space on its consoles through dashboards ads and other in-game advertisements deals signed with third parties. With this new project, Microsoft will increase its reach to more brands willing to advertise for the burgeoning gaming population through the new program.
Meanwhile, Sony hasn’t decided if it will take a portion of the ad revenue. The Business Insider says these ads will be sold in a private marketplace. The profits from ads have been the town’s talk recently, especially concerning app stores held by Google and Apple. Building on these lines, even Sony wants to provide an option that would entail developers and publishers to pay for the consumer’s data.
On the other hand, Microsoft is busy developing a mechanism to protect its customer’s data from other companies. The company is currently not in the mood to share its customer’s data with others that it collects from searches on Binge and other sources for personalized ads that will run on Xbox.
