Microsoft Patent Puts Ads After Boss Fights, Cutscenes, And Load Screens

According to patent documents originally spotted by Respawn First, Microsoft is studying ways to enhance in-game advertisement solutions. Specifically, Microsoft showcased a context-aware ad system that times ad interruptions to specific in-game events and rewards players with ad credits for tolerating it. This ties into Microsoft's plans for Game Pass across Xbox and PC, where an enhanced ad-supported tier with the system we're seeing in this patent would preserve game pacing without harming revenue.

Honestly, compared to the world of egregious (and sometimes malicious) mobile app ads, Microsoft's proposed vision of an ad system that detects lulls in gameplay (like for cutscenes, post-boss fights, etc) as appropriate times for an ad break does seem about as non-intrusive as it could get without lingering onscreen.

Compared to just buying the game or a higher tier of Game Pass, this Microsoft ad credit gaming patent is akin to watching a film cut for TV with commercial breaks rather than the original edit. But in those cases, TV cuts can be egregious—what we're seeing here is just a vision of AAA games interspersed with commercial breaks. Unlike with film adapted for commercial breaks, games adapted to commercial breaks under this system should be able to maintain some semblance of their pacing, and won't lose any of their original content.

Of course, functionality like this for Game Pass could also mean the end of offline Game Pass play, at least for ad-supported users. Though since the feature is reliant on in-engine support, Respawn First points out the chance we could see only certain free-to-play games utilize the system across Microsoft's Xbox consoles and PC. Outside of those scenarios, it's hard to imagine where else we could see Microsoft's ad credit gaming patent getting real-world use. But that's also if it actually gets used and isn't just a patent resulting from internal tests at Microsoft.