Curated By: Shaurya Sharma
Last Updated: December 15, 2023, 14:40 IST
Redmond, Washington State, USA
Would you watch a couple of advertisements to unlock a couple of hours of premium gaming? (Image: Microsoft)
Xbox Gaming CFO Tim Stuart hinted that Microsoft might quickly supply a free tier of its xCloud service that can supply your free video games in alternate of watching advertisements.
We have seen on-line streaming providers supply content material for low cost however laden with advertisements. A chief instance of that is Netflix with the advert-supported plans. But what if a model like Xbox might present you advertisements and in alternate give you free video games streaming? Well, that is precisely what Xbox xCloud might quickly supply.
As reported by TweakTown, Xbox Gaming CFO Tim Stuart hinted that Microsoft might quickly supply a free tier of its xCloud service on the Wells Fargo TMT summit, which was held final month. In specific, Tim Stuart targeted on having this provision for areas like Africa and India, the place folks could not afford to spend on console gaming.
“For fashions like Africa, or India, Southeast Asia, perhaps locations that aren’t console-first, you’ll be able to 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 technique, Xbox would possibly have the option to penetrate the aforementioned markets and probably faucet into “tens of millions and tens of millions of players” 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.
