Xbox is testing ads on streaming video games you already own

Playing games through streaming on Xbox could get even less appealing as the company is testing ads before gameplay sessions.

In-game advertisements have been a thing for years on mobile, but you’ll rarely find anyone who actively wants them, that isn’t a business executive. Regular players have shown to be actively hostile to even just product placement, especially if they don’t make sense within the game world.

Some games have experimented with literal ads though, with NBA 2K21 being heavily criticised for adding unskippable ads in its loading screens, despite costing upwards of £85. EA tried something similar with UFC 4 but the backlash was so severe that it hastily removed them.

Unfortunately, no idea is unpopular enough for publishers to give up on, which is why Xbox is going through with testing ad supported video game streaming.

Xbox has posited the idea of incorporating ads into games before, but only now is it running a trial period for members of the Xbox Insider programme.

According to an announcement on Xbox Wire, you’ll be able to stream games you already own at no extra cost but with ads, although sessions will only last an hour.

The announcement is keen to stress that this only applies to streaming select games and ads will only play before the start of a gameplay session. So, it’s not like you’ll be halfway through a mission in Halo: Campaign Evolved and then have it be interrupted by an ad for Fanta or something.

Xbox also tries to spin the idea as a positive for players, saying the problem with past in-game ads is that they’ve haven’t ‘always been built with the player in mind.

‘When done well, advertising can help lower the cost of access. It creates another way for players to get into games without an upfront streaming purchase and expands audiences through new ways to play,’ it says, adding that ‘Ads should create value.’

It also argues for the virtues of cloud streaming since it lets you access Xbox games even if you lack a console: ‘That can be especially meaningful in places where consoles are harder to find or less affordable, giving more players another way to access great games on devices they already have.’

Xbox never specifies how many ads will play before a session but it doesn’t sound a particularly good idea for advertisers either, if the ad is only once at the beginning of a lengthy gaming session – instead of every 20 minutes or so, like it would be on TV or YouTube.

This is obviously the latest attempt to make some extra money out of video games, no different to the introductions of microtransactions and expensive special editions, since it avoids raising the prices of games and hardware further. As a reminder, Microsoft already plans to make Xbox consoles more expensive next week, from August 1.

Xbox isn’t alone in this as EA has recently been openly discussing incorporating ads into both its premium and free-to-play games. So far, it’s focusing on sports titles like EA Sports FC 27, but it’s still interested in testing the waters for what it can get away with in other types of games too.

‘It has to make sense for the game,’ says Alexander Dao, EA’s vice president of advertising and sponsorship in an interview with The Game Business, ‘It’s easier to imagine what that looks like with sports because what you’re really trying to do is mirror the real-world experience. But if we pull on the thread of… how do we actually understand what the players want? The progression? And can brands be a part of that experience?’

Dao seems to be referring more so to branding collaborations, such as in-game cosmetics, rather than stopping the game briefly to run TV-like ads since he uses the time when EA partnered with fashion company Coach to add themed items to The Sims 4 as an example of in-game advertising that players resonated positively with.

‘If done appropriately with the right brands, with the right title and understanding what the players ultimately want, it can drive that type of experience. But it is a bit nuanced title-by-title to make sure that you’re getting it right and it doesn’t feel random.’

Optional paid cosmetics based on popular brands is the lesser of two evils when compared to sitting through an ad spot just to get back to playing your game though don’t be surprised if publishers like Microsoft and EA keep trying to see if they can get away with the latter.

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