r/pcmasterrace • • 24d ago

News/Article Microsoft patents system to freeze games and inject ads during downtimes — watching commercials earns ad-free playtime credits

https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/microsoft-patents-system-to-freeze-games-and-inject-ads-during-downtimes-watching-commercials-earns-ad-free-playtime-credits
7.9k Upvotes

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4.8k

u/Johnny_C13 5700x3D | RTX 2070s 24d ago

Straight out of Black Mirror. Jesus Christ.

977

u/muakaya9876 24d ago

drink your verification can to continue to play

177

u/tmhoc 24d ago

Mom bathroom... MOM!..

What is it poopykins

Bathroom!

RPRPRPRBULPBULPrprprpr

Oh my thats a big boy isn't he

66

u/smohyee 24d ago

How can you kill that which has no life?

64

u/Furbal1307 24d ago

10

u/Maxtrt 23d ago

We laughed our asses off when it first aired' My wife, best friends and I were all in the same WoW guild together and we played way more than we should have. I know that I used to spend more hours playing a week than I did my full time job.

3

u/1ceByte28 23d ago

"MORE hotpockets!"

32

u/sulkee 24d ago

mountain dew is for me and you

10

u/Excellent_Bend8782 24d ago

Still sick from the 14 last night

18

u/Excellent_Bend8782 24d ago

I desperately need to re read the og 4chan copypasta of this

29

u/hordak666 5800x3d 3080ti 24d ago

14

u/Excellent_Bend8782 24d ago

This is still the fucking funniest thing I stg

1

u/bloke_pusher 9800x3D, 5070ti, 96gb ddr5 6000mhz cl28 24d ago

Not long until to proceed playing, you got to download an app and make a screenshot of the ad (qr code), to confirm you watched it and didn't block it.

1

u/Yunky_Brewster 23d ago

They already have eye tracking

958

u/Wadarkhu 24d ago

On the bright side, Sony has a patent where people have to stand up and say the name of the product on the Ad. So just because it's patented doesn't mean it'll happen.

Never know these days I guess.

122

u/NotInTheKnee 24d ago

12

u/DigitusInRecto 24d ago

Dear Lord, where's the author, I gotta ask him questions - he seems knowledgeable on the subject...

631

u/JTGames1000 Gigabyte 4090 Gaming OC, i7-14700k, 32GB DDR5 24d ago

Kills me the way he gleefully throws his arms in the air, haha. "All hail our great and powerful corporate overlords!"

154

u/Power_Stone 24d ago

It's how you brainwash

97

u/newbrevity 11700k, RTX4070ti_SUPER, 32gb_3600_CL16 24d ago

50

u/Power_Stone 24d ago

LMAO just watched this last night 😂 I know it's supposed to be a comedy but it's closer to a documentary at this point

11

u/chocolatecoveredmeth 24d ago

What is this from?

39

u/Power_Stone 24d ago

Idiocracy

3

u/ThePrussianGrippe AMD 7950x3d - 7900xt - 48gb RAM - 12TB NVME - MSI X670E Tomahawk 24d ago

Can’t be a documentary. The world elected the smartest man on the planet as their president, and when he discovered someone smarter he took him seriously and implemented his ideas.

Idiocracy is not a documentary, as they have a more positive future to look forward to.

40

u/DarthShiv 24d ago

Sony realised the US is already brainwashed without them needing to do this

-10

u/PictureVegetable9522 24d ago

how are they brainwashed or is this some stupid ass "trump bad so all americans must be brainwashed idiots" thing where dumbass redditers are obsessed with hating ALL americans because of trump

8

u/DarthShiv 24d ago

So many things that are terrible about US society are because a huge amount of the population is told it's supposed to be that way.

This is not a Trump thing.

8

u/Fucky0uthatswhy 24d ago

He’s also watching a murder for some reason

30

u/MiloPoint 24d ago

Read Fahrenheit 451… this is lifted straight from the pages.

6

u/-JimmyTheHand- 24d ago

Yes there was a lot of Xbox playing in that book

130

u/spyboy70 R9 9950X | 4080 Super | 96GB DDR5 24d ago

Instructions unclear, I keep standing up and yelling "Fuck Sony" and my TV shuts off :(

48

u/Ravensqueak 24d ago

I said "fuck LG" and I started noticing a van parked outside.

6

u/hurrdurrmeh 24d ago

they have come to re-educate you, be thankful you traitor.

only somewhat /s because, you know, it's kinda happening

1

u/kingk1teman R69000x5D | XRTX 600900 32PB 23d ago

they have come to re-educate you, be thankful you traitor.

LG is based out of the wrong Korea...

53

u/Balc0ra My other PC has a 1030 24d ago

This is far from MS first ad related patent, nor will it be the last.

Just look up all the stuff Sony, EA, or Xbox have filed the past 2 decades, and be glad none of is used. More so than not, it's more of a "just in case" filing to prevent others from using it

26

u/darkninja1047 24d ago

I would like to be optimistic and think they patented it because its such a horrible idea that they wanted to make sure nobody ever did it.

21

u/misterFaceplant 24d ago

It's a very broad line between optimistic and delusional, unfortunately you're well on the delusional side here.

2

u/Ecotech101 24d ago

Hey now, we can make this optimistic. Just imagine that they tested it on one of the execs by accident and it annoyed them so much that they decided to hide it so they personally don't have to deal with it.

1

u/MeIsMyName Xeon E5-1680v2 | GTX 1070 | 32gb DDR3 | Fractal Design Define S 24d ago

There have been examples of companies doing this.

1

u/misterFaceplant 24d ago

Sure but Microsoft will never be one of them.

1

u/ThePrussianGrippe AMD 7950x3d - 7900xt - 48gb RAM - 12TB NVME - MSI X670E Tomahawk 24d ago

Well that only blocks it for 25 years.

1

u/Balc0ra My other PC has a 1030 24d ago

If anyone of them were used on a $60 game. They would be dead in the water instantly. They know that much. But in a f2p game? Who knows

8

u/DeadlyYellow 24d ago

Yet.

Hasn't been used, yet.

35

u/crozone iMac G3 - AMD 5900X, RTX 3080 TUF OC 24d ago

Please drink verification can

6

u/scrotumscab 24d ago

Something like this would never fly as long as Americans with Disabilities Act still stands. How would a mute person end the ad?

3

u/Ferro_Giconi RX4006ti | i4-1337X | 33.01GB Crucair RAM | 1.35TB Knigsotn SSD 24d ago edited 24d ago

I'm sure they'll add that feature eventually. Ads have been getting more invasive as time goes on and they will continue to get more invasive unless there is a violent revolution that overthrows the people in charge of those kinds of things. There is no limit to how invasive ads will get if they keep making it worse at a slow enough rate to avoid angering people too much all at once.

0

u/Flyrpotacreepugmu Ryzen 7 7800X3D | 64GB RAM | RTX 4070 Ti SUPER 24d ago edited 24d ago

Well there's also the possibility that once ads are bothersome enough, people's negative feelings toward the ads outweigh the increased exposure and the ads noticeably decrease sales. Then the money in selling ad slots would dry up and there wouldn't be incentive to continue showing them.

IMO it's more likely that ads move in the direction of trying look like people naturally and helpfully recommending something instead of this style of in-your-face presentation. Just look at how much focus there is on analyzing people's data to guess what ads they'll respond to, all the bot-like social media posts about how great certain things are, and all the companies trying to sponsor content creators for a more personal recommendation. They wouldn't be trying so many new things if simply shoving more ads in people's faces was still effective.

1

u/ImSaneHonest 24d ago

Just because they're evil doesn't mean they're chaotic evil, wait for the patent to expire, then will see the really evil villains.

1

u/GoldMountain5 24d ago

Need to start a company that will patent all the insane ways to engage with content ads, just to make sure no other company can use them.

1

u/Rohit_BFire Laptop 24d ago

At this point, I say it's time to go out and touch grass

1

u/SAULOT_THE_WANDERER 24d ago

a patent is a legal tool for preventing other companies from using the tech, it's not a permit for using the claimed tech. such evil methods being patented is, in the end, good for customers

1

u/CrashTestDumby1984 I9-13900k | RTX4090 | 32 Gb 24d ago

I feel like we as consumers need to start proactively thinking of all the ways companies could inject ads and patent them just so companies can’t do it. Corporations have been abusing the patent system for decades (looking at Warner Bros who patented the nemesis they don’t care about just so no one else can use it).

1

u/Cavaquillo 24d ago

Yeah sometimes it means we won’t have to worry about it, but I’ll never fully trust anyone who works in tech

1

u/kazegraf 24d ago

Don't make the exec remember this. At this rate, they gonna roll these out. 

1

u/motoxim 23d ago

Oh shit

1

u/Streakflash 🖥️ :: i7 9700k // RTX 2070 // 32GB // 144Hz 23d ago

the tv will be a forbidden device at my house if this ever happens

1

u/arina_bee 23d ago

I'll be real. If this happened, I'd skip boycotting and go straight to terror cells

1

u/Significant-Way9330 24d ago

I really hope this kinda stuff is them being patent squatters and just sitting on this stuff. Cause it is bleak out here. 

1

u/VoidOmatic Desktop i7 6700k | GTX 1080 | 20GB DDR4 24d ago

Doesn't mean it has happened yet.

0

u/Aalnius 24d ago

One positive is if a big company has the patent its unlikely going to be used by other companies, but just because sony hasn't pulled this bullshit yet doesn't mean they won't theyre likely just working out when they think they can implement it.

67

u/solarwindy 24d ago

Sadly a lot of stuff in Black Mirrir is happening or will happen soon...

25

u/m4rk19770007 ryzen 3700x, rx 6700xt, NZXT oven case 24d ago

Rate your Uber driver and they rate you back. Got to keep the ratings up all it all falls apart...

3

u/ThePrussianGrippe AMD 7950x3d - 7900xt - 48gb RAM - 12TB NVME - MSI X670E Tomahawk 24d ago

Don’t want to lose your merits!

10

u/Psychomonkie71 24d ago

they were working on this since 2000

4

u/justthankyous 24d ago

Support DRM free gaming. That's the only thing we can do

3

u/alueron Desktop Ryzen 9 3900XT, GeForce RTX 3090 24d ago

one more reason to switch to Linux with my next pc.... when i can afford to build one

3

u/johnfkngzoidberg 24d ago

Fuck Microslop

1

u/smitcal 24d ago

Wait till you have to see an ad to save a spreadsheet.

1

u/KnewAllTheWords 24d ago

luckily I've patented a system of not touching any game that implements this kind of bullshit

1

u/ML7777777 24d ago

Who know that the US would be leading the world into a dystopia.

1

u/Extra-Amoeba-677 24d ago

Look at them, they are weaponizing BSOD now. It's funny if they start adding a marketing ad to the BSOD

1

u/emiluss29 7900xtx | 7800x3d | 32GB 6000cl30 24d ago

But all of this just for ads.. not something critical or useful, ads. I never bought anything I saw from ads im videos, product placement or what the fuck ever. Don’t they understand that it just pisses people off? Do they really think we will buy their shit like this? I get it when your mindlessly watching cable tv, but anything else I really don’t

1

u/jollycooperations 23d ago

distopian lvl shit

1

u/1ceByte28 23d ago

WTF is this "Black Mirror" everyone keeps referencing lately?

1

u/arina_bee 23d ago

The number of times I've said this in just the last year... well we've had a good run humans! Let's all get f***** up! :p

1

u/ImNotYourPityParti 21d ago

Why do human beings continue to just subjugate themselves under oppressive systems and technology.

We will never learn. We are doomed to fail. We are a violent self destructive species. There will never be peace. I fucking hate it here

1

u/MietschVulka 24d ago

Ok why is everything out if black mirror these days? Do i have to watch it?

0

u/groolismygojuice 24d ago

Yes you do it's a great show. Every episode is its own separate story so you don't really have to commit. Just watch an episode here and there when you feel like you haven't lost enough hope in humanity that day