Microsoft has begun testing ad-supported game streaming on Xbox.
Players who are part of the Xbox Insider Program can choose to play one-hour game streaming sessions for free, supported by advertisements.
Ads will appear before each session, but the core gameplay remains unchanged. Participation in the test is optional, and players “can choose other ways to play at any time.”
Xbox stated that advertisements on its service “should create value” and “hold the same quality bar as [its] content.”
The company explained that the test is “designed to help give more people more affordable ways to play on devices they already own.”
“Advertising has existed in gaming for decades, from in-game placements to free-to-play models. But it hasn’t always been built with the player in mind,” the firm said.
“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.”
In 2022, reports emerged that Xbox was considering in-game advertisements for free-to-play titles on its cloud streaming platform.
A year later, former Xbox chief financial officer Tim Stuart indicated that this initiative could target countries where streaming is more prevalent.
“For models like Africa or India, Southeast Asia, maybe places that are not console first, you can say, hey, do you want to watch 30 seconds of an ad and then get into two hours of game streaming.”