After Netflix and Disney +, it’s Microsoft’s turn to imagine a subscription offer with advertisements. According to the Windows Central site, the American company is working on a new Xbox Game Pass package. If nothing is really formalized, nor confirmed by an internal source, information scattered all over the Internet suggests the appearance of such an offer.
The most reliable clue is a patent filing made by Microsoft. Dating from May 2022 and recently made public, this patent intends “provide personalized content for a non-intrusive online gaming experience”. In the file, we discover the description of a technology analyzing the moments of interaction within the games, in order to methodically display the pub during the game. They would appear in times of low interaction so as not to disturb the user’s experience. According to the diagrams of the patent, these pubs could appear in decorative elements such as panels or headbands, or even on character outfits.
Windows Central also evokes a screenshot posted on the ResetEra forum. If the post of an anonymous source on a niche forum is of course to be taken with a grain of salt, the site still draws some information from it. The table, in Spanish, would come from an email sent to users to survey their opinion on a possible new Xbox Game Pass offer. This would cost €3 and would offer very little choice: access to the drastically reduced catalog, only offering games that were at least six months old, and access to multiplayer in return for advertisements.
This information has not been denied or confirmed at this time by Microsoft. It would not be the first time that a patent has not been taken advantage of by a company, or that a screenshot of a forum has not proven to be reliable. Anyway, the company has already launched a more accessible offer for its Xbox Game Pass with a family plan. Currently being tested in Brazil, the offer already has more than 30 million subscribers, enabling them to benefit from a reduced individual subscription price.