As per reports, both Sony and Microsoft plan to have ads in PlayStation games this year.
Sony is making plans to include ads in Free to play PlayStation games, as per the report by Insider. All these ads will appear in games and offer the game developers some way to monetize their work and inspire them to build some free to play games.
It is expected that these in-game ads will be launched by the end of this year and will appear in some hidden places in the game, such as billboards. Players will also receive rewards for viewing advertisements, and those ads will be sold through the private marketplace, as per the reports by Insider.
According to sources, Sony has not yet decided whether it will take part in advertisement revenue. Still, it is taking into consideration that publishers and developers will pay for customer data.
After Sony’s plans were announced, news came that Microsoft was also planning to do the same thing on free-to-play Xbox games, as per the report by Insider. Ads in free to play Xbox games are expected to launch later this year, and Microsoft is not planning to take a revenue cut.
As reported in the Insider report, advertisers might require some substantial for joining the program. Ads that will appear with any mature or violent content can be a concern, and keeping track of what users will do after watching an in-game ad is difficult. The possibility of ads irritating gamers is also a major concern, as per reports by Insider.