New Xbox Exec Says Advertising Is What the Game Industry Needs to Survive
A top Xbox executive is publicly arguing for in-game advertising as a necessary funding mechanism to keep game prices low and development budgets high, signaling a potential shift in platform strategy.
Reporting from 1 sources: GIGAZINE.
Matthew Ball, Chief Strategy Officer of Microsoft's gaming division Xbox, said in an interview that making advertising more acceptable in games is one way to revitalize the game industry. Ball pointed to ad-supported streaming plans as a model, noting that development costs are too high while consumers hate price increases. He did not announce any specific Microsoft plans.
Matthew Ball, Chief Strategy Officer of Microsoft's gaming division Xbox, told The Game Business that the modern game industry has a 'two-sided problem': development costs are too high while consumers hate price increases. Ball argued that advertising is the solution, pointing to streaming services like Netflix, whose ad-supported plan attracted 40 million subscribers within a year of launch. While ad-supported games are common on mobile, they are not widespread on home consoles. Ball said the question is not about cramming ads into everything, but about whether there is an opportunity for people who cannot afford or do not want to advertise to participate in Xbox's platform or franchises. He did not discuss any specific plans from Microsoft.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.
Sources
- GIGAZINE XBOXの新幹部がゲーム業界が生き残るために必要な要素は「広告」だと語る