The filing points to a possible ad-supported model for PC and console games that is less disruptive than the approaches commonly used in mobile titles.
Watching an ad would earn players another block of ad-free play time, called a “credit”
Microsoft don’t have a distribution platform for PC games, even when they did no one used it. So they will only be able to introduce this in games that they are the publisher for, which is actually not that many games.
I’m very sure steam already prohibits in-game advertising. So Microsoft would have to distribute these games themselves and the moment that any publisher decides to go their own route they immediately decrease their revenue, even if nothing else has changed.
Just get an emulation handheld. With Steam offering ARM support through a translation layer, a strong one can even run a surprising array of PC games these days. My Retroid Pocket Flip 2 isn’t even that nice as far as these things go, and it plays just about any 2D game I’ve tried and a lot of 3D from the '00s and early '10s, later if they don’t press limits. You can also attach them to TVs and use normal controllers, including multiplayer.
Oh good. I was only 98% sure I was done buying consoles forever. It’s good to really know.
I might make exceptions for consoles/devices that run linux off the shelf. (I want to get a steam frame, ok?)
The patent seems to be for PC games though I’m sure it would apply to both.
Microsoft don’t have a distribution platform for PC games, even when they did no one used it. So they will only be able to introduce this in games that they are the publisher for, which is actually not that many games.
I’m very sure steam already prohibits in-game advertising. So Microsoft would have to distribute these games themselves and the moment that any publisher decides to go their own route they immediately decrease their revenue, even if nothing else has changed.
Don’t forget they bought Activision and own games like Diablo and WoW.
https://www.xbox.com/en-us/apps/xbox-app-on-pc
Just get an emulation handheld. With Steam offering ARM support through a translation layer, a strong one can even run a surprising array of PC games these days. My Retroid Pocket Flip 2 isn’t even that nice as far as these things go, and it plays just about any 2D game I’ve tried and a lot of 3D from the '00s and early '10s, later if they don’t press limits. You can also attach them to TVs and use normal controllers, including multiplayer.
Get? Use an old phone