Microsoft now sells video ads that give players access to cloud games. In a Nov. 12 post on the Microsoft Advertising blog, Meredith Barrett, senior director of product marketing at XBOX Media Solutions, introduced XBOX Video for Brands, which players will know as ad supported cloud gaming.
What happened
Eligible players watch full-screen video before a cloud-gaming session starts. A three-minute pre-roll ad pod unlocks a 30-minute gameplay session, and the ads run during cloud loading, so active play is not interrupted. The post says the option gives eligible players a way to stream games without a Game Pass subscription. The ads are 16:9, come in multiple durations, run across supported screens and are non-skippable.
Why it matters
Microsoft pitches the product at buyers who already run premium video and CTV, and says it lets them extend existing video creative into gaming. That puts a gaming placement inside an ordinary video plan, much as LinkedIn moved B2B targeting onto TV screens with its CTV expansion to the UK.
Our take
A three-minute pod is long by video standards, and the viewer sits through it to get something specific: half an hour of play. In our reading, that makes the format closer to a rewarded ad than a TV spot, and it should be planned and measured that way. The post gives no pricing, audience size, markets or measurement partners, so ask XBOX Media Solutions for completion rates, the position of your ad within the pod and frequency caps before moving CTV budget. Pod position matters on any screen, as the IAB Tech Lab work on seven ad moments in a CTV session set out.
Source: Microsoft Advertising Blog
