Xbox Joins the Dystopian Future – In-Game Ads May Be Coming Soon
According to reports, Microsoft in-game ads could be coming to your Xbox games. This article brought to you by Folgers – Your Last-Resort Coffee.
Advertising is a tough market. You’re trying to show things to people that you think will like those things, but they are doing everything in their power to make sure you don’t get to help them. Alternatively, advertising is a predatory market. They steal your data and inject capitalistic propaganda into every facet of your daily life, all in order to make a profit. Either way, ads are everywhere. But they might start popping up inside your video games.
Microsoft In-Game Ads
According to a recent report from Business Insider, Microsoft is working on technology that will allow advertisers to place ads inside Xbox games. This Microsoft in-game ads program is not the same as the ads which can appear on your dashboard or Start bar of other Microsoft products. This would be more like billboards in your Forza or Grand Theft Auto 6.
The report states that the Microsoft in-game ads program is being careful to not “irritate” players. They have stated they will be creating a “private marketplace” where only “select brands” will be given access.
So, Now What?
Well, this idea isn’t new. Ubisoft has been doing this for years with plenty of their games. And people love Ubisoft, right? It’s safe to say that.
It’s hard to say how distracting these ads will be. There’s a lot of variables at play here, but it’s a safe bet that no gamers are going to be for this program. At best, it’ll be tolerable. But like with other capitalism creep, we’ll get used to it and won’t realize how dystopian it is for us not be able to enjoy a video game without being sold something.
So that’s fun.
