Although in general we all like that free games exist, although in many cases this elimination of its price is linked to the presence of micropayments or other strategies to compensate the earnings, in many other cases it implies the presence of quite invasive advertisements within them. Although as we have been able to see during the last years with the League of Legends World Championship, there is still a middle ground for introduce advertising within the games without harming the gameplay.
And it seems that Riot is not the only one interested in this system. As they have shared from Business Insider, it seems that Microsoft would be exploring ways to provide a platform to integrate ads directly into some of its free or Free to Play games available. within the Xbox ecosystem. Sources say Microsoft is currently in talks with ad tech specialists to build a new advertising platform that will inject ads into specific games which could include third-party installments such as Fortnite, CoD: Warzone, or Rocket League.
In the same way as in League of Legends, the latter has shown us one of the possible formats in which these ads would arrive, which would be shown inside some of the digitally rendered billboards inside the building itself game that, although they will remain in view of the players at practically all times, they do not interfere with the gaming experience. However, we have previously seen other not-so-positive reactions to similar tactics, such as the actual ads included in NBA 2K21 replays.
Although ad tech is one of the most lucrative aspects of mobile gaming, Microsoft’s goal may be to increase visibility and engagement rather than make money. In fact, it is surprising that current leaks point to the very Microsoft would not even take part in the division of the revenue generated by the adsbut would allocate all this direct benefit to the developers and publishers of the games, as well as the advertising agencies in charge of these actions.
For his part, for the time being from Xbox they have not wanted to confirm or deny these plansalthough it is worth remembering the latest statements from a company spokesperson, who assured that from Microsoft «We are always looking for ways to improve the experience for players and developers«.
