Streaming services of all kinds have been exploring ad-supported options, and it looks like this may extend to even cloud gaming. Specifically, Xbox Cloud Gaming, also known by its old name Project xCloud, with Southeast Asia being mentioned as a potential market for this model, alongside Africa and India.
TweakTown reports that in an interview with Xbox chief financial officer Tim Stuart during a recent Wells Fargo TMT Summit, the exec mentions ad-supported models for the aforementioned regions. Described as places that “aren’t console-first”, the proposition for these markets is having gamers watch 30 seconds of advertisements in exchange for two hours of game streaming.
Currently, Malaysia does not support any form of Xbox Cloud Gaming. In fact, the only things that are Xbox-branded that we have are PC Game Pass, and more recently, the wireless controllers. With the company having openly acknowledged the Southeast Asia region beyond Singapore, the chance of us getting more services by the Microsoft gaming arm is better than ever before.
On the flip side though, considering the tectonic pace that it has taken from the initial announcement to the actual availability of the Xbox controllers locally, to say that it’s going to take awhile is a massive understatement. Then there are the reports that claim Microsoft is slowing down on its work on Xbox Cloud gaming, and things look about as bleak as it was before once again.
And all that is before we even consider the viability of having gamers watch a 30-second ad during gameplay, if the session stretches beyond two hours. That would clearly be problematic if it happened during a multiplayer match that can’t be paused, but that is a problem to ponder for another year, if that.
(Source: TweakTown)
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