Sony and Microsoft have both declared that they will implement ads into free-to-play games by the end of 2022. While the confirmation from Microsoft had come quite some time earlier, Sony announced its decision recently. We don’t have a lot of information on how ads will be incorporated into PlayStation games and how Sony is going to benefit from the same feature. However, Microsoft has confirmed a lot of leaks on their implementation of advertisements.
Why are Sony and Microsoft Implementing Ads into Free Games?
Both companies are enforcing ads into free-to-play games only. Titles that cost real-world money will remain ad-free. The implementation will help free-to-play game developers gain an additional source of income and motivate them to develop more such titles in the future. The ad integration will be very inconspicuous, and will be placed in places like in-game billboards, which already have some ads for “realism”, but for non-existent companies.
Sony will also introduce a system of rewarding players for watching ads in these games. Also, advertisers would have to pass some quality checks before they are allowed to place in-game ads. Sony is also planning to introduce some form of fees for both developers and publishers for ad integrations. These payments will be levied because ads will cost customers bandwidth. Microsoft’s in-game ad integrations are pitched to come earlier than Sony. Although we have a wide release window of “later this year”, Microsoft has actively made a lot of information about the integration public. This suggests that the company has already advanced talks and is probably prepping the move at the moment.
Microsoft declared that they would not take any cuts from the revenue generated by these in-game ads. Thus, the entirety of profits can be enjoyed by the developers and publishers. But, Sony executives have not said a single word on this topic. Both Microsoft and Sony yet have to announce a lot of information about this integration, but Sony seems to be extremely quiet about the recent developments. We will update you when the company officially addresses this addition to free games.