Earlier this week we heard rumors that the Xbox Series X may start featuring ads on free-to-play games. Now a new report claims that Sony might also be working on something similar for PS4 and PS5.
The report in question comes from Business Insider, citing three sources involved with Sony’s rumored plan. The idea is that Sony encourages more developers to make free-to-play titles by offering them more ways to monetize.
For what it’s worth, Sony apparently wants ads to be a “natural” part of the gaming experience. Things like billboards in sports games, for example, rather than intrusive ads that might interrupt the flow of the game. However, there may also be an option to offer rewards for players willing to watch ads and promotions, in the form of in-game items.
Reports of Microsoft’s plan for free-to-play advertising didn’t include this sort of timeline, with BI’s report claiming that the company was “moving cautiously” to avoid gamer backlash. While I can’t see there not being backlash towards increased advertising rushing into these things without considering those ramifications only makes it worse.
Here’s hoping Sony has realized that as well. The last thing we need is a bunch of terrible ads showing up in PlayStation games without much, if any consideration for how people might take it. In fact, as my colleague Marshall Honorof says, both Xbox and PS5 getting more ads would be nothing short of exhausting.
