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The story
Microsoft has filed a patent for a system where an AI judges a good breaking point during gameplay, pauses the game, and inserts an ad there — and it’s become a hot topic on 5ch. Unlike ads shown during loading screens, the distinguishing feature is that it actually halts gameplay itself to slot in the ad. The thread also brought up Sony’s history with “Wipeout HD,” where load-screen ads in 2009 drew criticism and were later removed, as well as the infamous ad patent that had players shout “McDonald’s!” Opinions split between those who could accept it if limited to Game Pass subscribers and those who found it unacceptable if ads reached games people had already purchased.
What people said
There was a thread calling it "bad news" too, but honestly it looked more like people were just seething about it.
https://ga-m.com/n/sony-game-koukoku-tokkyo-iihanasi-buzz-macdonald/
A McDonald's commercial plays while you're in the middle of a game.
Players aren't "allowed" to just sit and watch it — as shown in the image above, you have to stand up and shout the advertiser's name, "McDonald's!"
Once you do, a microphone and camera linked to the console verify it, the ad ends, and you're free to keep playing.
Lol. What are PlayStation fanboys gonna do about this one lmao
Re: #38
Whoaaaa! Sony's ahead of its time, amazing!!
All MS's "innovation" amounts to is an AI finding a decent stopping point.
That's just a bathroom break — how disappointing!
Sony actually got people to shout "McDonald's!" Now THAT'S ad impact!
Add a camera and you could make people salute and swear loyalty to Sony!
Truly unstoppable!
And what happens if they decide not to push load times any faster than they have to, just to make room for this?
Online matchmaking queues are about the most I'd tolerate it in.
That'd be even more annoying, honestly.
Sony put ads inside the racing game "Wipeout HD."
In that Wipeout HD ad, the top half of the video above is the actual in-game footage.
As you can see, inserting an ad video during loading pushed back the start of the race.
That led to a flood of criticism from users, and Sony later removed the feature that showed ads during loading.
Wow, way to go, Xbox!
You pay money to play the game, and now ads get shoved on top of that?!
What this really means is the total collapse of AAA game development. They just can't keep the current business model running anymore.
If it were like Amazon Prime Video, where you pay around 600 yen a month for unlimited movies and shows, I could still get it.
But putting ads in a game you paid over 9,000 yen to buy…
With Prime Video you pay around 600 yen and still get ads, but you can pay another 400 yen to remove them — Game Pass is probably going for the same setup.
But if that's the case, couldn't you just pay the extra few hundred yen to get it ad-free like before and let people choose? Though it'd depend on where the ads actually show up.
That's going to earn some resentment from game makers, isn't it.
If it's Game Pass-only, publishers probably won't complain.
If anything, it'd be good if it meant more people who actually buy the game outright.
But then the revenue stays weak either way, so the downsides just pile up more.
They really shouldn't do this.
If they absolutely must, it should be limited to the cheapest discount tier only.
Then again, that's basically how video streaming subscriptions already work.
This isn't about showing ads during loading — it's about the AI judging a good moment to cut the action and pausing the game there to show an ad.
This is looking more credible now.
If it means even a little money flows back to publishers, that's not so bad.
Either crack down on streamers or just charge them money.
The idea that a bad game sells because of streaming is a myth anyway.
Depends on the game, but the moment someone's streaming it, that's basically free promotion. Capcom and "Crap Enix" (a common derisive nickname for Square Enix) actually do this in an organized way on purpose.
If a game's fun, people might catch a glimpse on stream and end up buying it; and if watching the stream alone satisfies someone, it was only ever that kind of game to begin with.
Funny that Square Enix — of all companies, the one most likely to fall into that second category — seems to favor this approach.
There's been chatter for a while now that the two companies are about to go head-to-head over advertising through their consoles.
Sony is scaling up its Playstation advertising ambitions
https://digiday.com/media-buying/sony-is-scaling-up-its-playstation-advertising-ambitions/
Actually, Sony got there first with its own patent for showing ads during gameplay — but it flopped, so they dropped it…
Sony's game-related ad patent went viral as a "feel-good story," but the reality was…
https://ga-m.com/n/sony-game-koukoku-tokkyo-iihanasi-buzz-macdonald/
On Sony's game-related ad patent: back in 2009, the same year as this patent, Sony inserted ads into the racing game "Wipeout HD."
In that Wipeout HD ad, the top half of the video above is the actual in-game footage.
As you can see, inserting an ad video during loading pushed back the start of the race.
That led to a flood of user criticism, and Sony later removed the feature that showed ads during loading.
The ones complaining are probably just out-of-touch old farts.
Young people would probably hate this even more — there's even slang like "doba-gaki" going around that caught on for exactly that reason.
Ads are basically never welcomed, period.
Online advertising just keeps getting more predatory every year.
But if prices go up instead, people would complain about that too, right?
Complaints happen no matter what, so just ignore the idiots complaining. Companies that want to do it will do it regardless.
Whether consumers hate it or not doesn't really matter. If you don't like it, "just get a pricier plan" — end of story.
This patent isn't about load screens — it's about pausing the game itself to show ads.
Re: #131
There's already a discounted standard-with-ads tier, and Prime Video charges extra to go ad-free too, so it's really no different.
Guess it's unavoidable if it's a subscription — ads have already become the norm for movie streaming services.
We're already at the point where even paid plans only come with ads as an option.
That's the cheap plan they tacked on later. Most customers are actually on the HD Standard or 4K plans anyway.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
When it comes to in-game advertising, the subscription industry as a whole has been settling into a pattern of splitting pricing based on whether ads are included — Amazon Prime Video charges extra for ad-free viewing, while Netflix long held out without ads at all. Consoles have precedent here too: in 2009, Sony inserted ad videos during loading screens in “Wipeout HD,” but drew criticism for delaying race starts and later removed the feature. What’s being discussed this time isn’t about loading screens at all — it’s a patent where an AI judges a natural break point in gameplay and pauses the game to insert an ad, a distinct issue from load-time reduction that’s easy to conflate. The thread split between those who could accept it if it were limited to Game Pass subscribers and those who found it unacceptable if ads reached games they’d actually purchased. Exactly who the feature would target isn’t clear from the patent filing alone. It’s also worth remembering that a patent filing secures rights to a technology — it’s not a commitment to actually implement it.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Hardware/Industry (Geha)) thread “[Bad News] Microsoft: “Hey, mind if we throw some ‘ads’ into the middle of your game too? 😅” — Patent Application wwwwwwwww.”
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