The Microsoft filed a patent application for a system capable of identifying low-impact moments during matches and using them to display ads. The technology provides for interruptions in situations such as save screens, end of rounds, or pause menus.
The application, published in the United States in September, describes a mechanism that receives signals from the game to decide when advertising can be displayed without interrupting moments considered critical to the experience.
When one of these conditions is identified, the system could temporarily suspend interaction, load a video ad, and return control to the player after it ends.
The patent also provides for a model of time credits. After watching an ad, the user could receive a period with no further interruptions. The duration could vary according to factors such as the ad length, time of day, or game mode.
The system was designed to work both in games run locally and in cloud-streamed titles, and it also provides for the use of machine learning models to identify suitable moments to insert advertising.
Microsoft is already testing advertising on Xbox Cloud Gaming
The filing appears as Microsoft expands experiments with ad-funded models in the Xbox ecosystem. The company is already testing game streaming with advertising displayed before the start of sessions, but the mechanism described in the patent goes further by providing for insertions during gameplay.
The existence of the application, however, does not mean that Microsoft intends to implement the system on Xbox. Patents can protect technologies that never reach commercial products, and the company has not announced plans to launch this format.
