Curated By: Shaurya Sharma
Last Updated: December 15, 2023, 15:24 IST
Redmond, Washington State, USA
Would you watch a few ads to unlock a few hours of premium gaming? (Image: Microsoft)
Xbox Gaming CFO Tim Stuart hinted that Microsoft could soon offer a free tier of its xCloud service that will offer your free games in exchange of watching ads.
We have seen online streaming services offer content for cheap but laden with ads. A prime example of this is Netflix with the ad-supported plans. But what if a brand like Xbox could show you ads and in exchange offer you free games streaming? Well, this is exactly what Xbox xCloud could soon offer.
As reported by TweakTown, Xbox Gaming CFO Tim Stuart hinted that Microsoft could soon offer a free tier of its xCloud service at the Wells Fargo TMT summit, which was held last month. In particular, Tim Stuart focused on having this provision for regions like Africa and India, where people may not afford to spend on console gaming.
“For models like Africa, or India, Southeast Asia, maybe places that aren’t console-first, you can say, ‘hey, do you want to watch 30 seconds of an ad and then get two hours of game streaming?’” Stuart said.
He added, “Africa is, you know, 50% of the population is 23 years old or younger with a growing disposable income base, all with cell phones and mobile devices, not a lot of high-end disposable income, generally-speaking.”
Later, he says that owing to this strategy, Xbox might be able to penetrate the aforementioned markets and potentially tap into “millions and millions of gamers” that they wouldn’t be been able to get the attention of following the their usual strategy.
Irrespective of whether this strategy makes it to the mainstream Xbox model or not, one thing is clear: game companies have been increasingly offering freemium games that let you play a base game and then offer quick shortcuts or performance-enhancing in-game items for real money. While this isn’t similar to what Xbox may do in the future, Xbox’s strategy could end up establishing a new way to let gamers enjoy games for free.
It is also worth noting that free games that you play on mobile these days do contain ads. And this, in a way, lets the creators of games make money while making sure people can play them for free. So, in the end, it’s a win-win for both parties, and Xbox may end up using this strategy after all.
