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

[u/screwdriverfan]

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

[u/YouGurt_MaN14]

I feel like I see patents like this all the time and nothing ever come of it. Like I swear I've seen this same title for EA games

[u/DrWhatNoName → u/YouGurt_MaN14]

EA patented showing ads on billboards in skate, score cards in FC26 and madden. And the advertising boards in FC26 has been showing real world ads all year.

EA at least doing ingame advertising in a non-disruptive way where players barely notice them and dont complain.

What microsoft is planning is if you pause the game, you might see a fullscreen ad, or if you dont do anything ingame for a bit, you might see a fullscreen ad. Completely disrupting gameplay.

[u/Jakesummers1 → u/DrWhatNoName]

I remember when they tried putting advertisements in Battlefield 2142. Not the shitty 2042

Only ever saw one or two ads in that old game, but EA has been trying for awhile

[u/NA_0_10_never_forget → u/Jakesummers1]

There were also ad billboards on Burnout Paradise. It wasn't obnoxious fwiw.
Partially promoting real world things like Vizio, partially promoting itself/dlc, and partially promoting in-world things like the Rossolini Tempesta

[u/r4o2n0d6o9 → u/NA_0_10_never_forget]

Weren’t there Obama campaign ads in that game or am I thinking of something else?

[u/AntComfortable5970 → u/Jakesummers1]

There were ads for Obama's first Presidential campaign in some 08 ea games 

[u/NuclearReactions → u/DrWhatNoName]

Plus this has been done since the 90s before that patent. People like it because if done right it feels realistic, it doesn't disrupt the game but it's limited to the few sports games, racing game and maybe freeroaming ones. In everything else it would feel out of place

[u/Aggravating-Dot132 → u/DrWhatNoName]

And, to be fair, those are sports games, so kinda immersive, hah.

[u/DrWhatNoName → u/Aggravating-Dot132]

Yes, and they are doing the ads almost exactly where they are in IRL sports. Just with without commercial breaks

[u/Puddz → u/DrWhatNoName]

I get that this is a stupid idea from Microsoft, but...

if you pause the game
Completely disrupting gameplay.

You just disrupted the gameplay yourself when you paused the game...