The news broke on Monday, as we explained in detail at Softonic. From the United States, there were whispers suggesting that Xbox was considering a new business model: offering games in exchange for watching advertisements.
Ahora, we can confirm that the idea is on Phil Spencer’s table, the head of Microsoft’s gaming division, also known as Xbox, in case you’re new around here.
While Microsoft currently provides free access to Fortnite through its Xbox Cloud Gaming (xCloud) service, there are indications that the company might offer free streaming of the game in exchange for incorporating ads.
This idea is conceived with developing countries in mind
The Chief Financial Officer of Microsoft Gaming, Tim Stuart, hinted at this possibility in an interview at the Wells Fargo TMT Summit at the end of last month, as discovered by TweakTown.
“The vision I like to talk about is we have xCloud Game Streaming, so you can subscribe to Game Pass Ultimate and play hundreds of games anywhere via streaming,” explained Stuart.
“For markets like Africa, India, Southeast Asia, and other places where there aren’t many consoles, you can say, ‘Hey, do you want to watch a 30-second ad and then have two hours of game streaming?'” concluded the senior executive.
Stuart’s conjectures make it clear that this is something Microsoft has been studying for certain regions, as Xbox Cloud Gaming has expanded to new markets throughout 2022.
A version of Xbox Cloud Gaming with advertising could work well in markets where phone ownership is much higher than that of traditional consoles or gaming PCs. That is to say, emerging markets.
However, it’s not clear if Microsoft will ever launch such a subscription. Work on Xbox Cloud Gaming has slowed down in the past year within Microsoft, as confirmed by Tom Warren of The Verge.
Microsoft had planned to offer compatibility with the existing game library by late 2022 in Xbox Cloud Gaming, but it never materialized.
Microsoft also scrapped plans to launch a standalone subscription version of Xbox Cloud Gaming, opting instead to include the service in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Therefore, for the time being, we’ll have to wait to see this advertising-supported subscription come into operation.
