It is a fact, Xbox currently occupies the place of « good guy » in the console wars new gen : Game Pass economic, powerful console, inclusive internal and external policy (controllers for handicaps, etc.) without forgetting a finally offensive strategy towards exclusivities (massive takeovers of studios). Opposite, Sony’s procrastination over the “break” with the old genGames first party charged 80 euros and the often perched declarations of Jim Ryan largely “played the game” (ah, ah) of Xbox’s new image positioning.
However, nothing can ever be taken for granted, and sometimes all it takes is certain borderline strategic choices to tarnish a patiently fashioned brand image. Thus, we have just learned that Microsoft would work on a platform which would allow brands to place advertisements… in Xbox Free-to-Play games ! Insider website, who reports the information, however, tempers by adding that the Redmond firm would be well aware of the risks of such a decision. Only a few handpicked brands would be in fine authorized to place , in order to avoid ending up with uncontrolled .
It should also be noted that Microsoft would not intend to recover its share of the revenue generated, and instead would allow the game developers and the platform to share the funds. Xbox is not being generous “for free” here: it is still and always a question of making Xbox and Game Pass essential as a gaming platform/service. free-to-play titles…
Finally, and this is perhaps the most important information: Microsoft would not use data on its own account (for targeting, for example). The first Xbox games with in-app ads could be available as early as the third quarter of this year. It will be recalled here that in games is not new and that it has existed for many years in sports games (brand stickers on cars, edges of fields in football simulations or during NBA/NFL). This being the pub probably bothers the players less in these specific cases because it is quite simply a reflection of what is happening in the real world.