Sony is Also Working on New Ad Systems for Free To Play Games

It appears that Microsoft isnt as original as they might think. There are now reports that Sony is looking to implement a similar advertising option for free to play PlayStation titles as well.

Just a couple of days ago, we reported on Microsoft, who are working on creating an in-game advertising system. The idea was to allow for free-to-play games to have real world advertisements integrated into the game environment, like on billboards for example. The motivation here was to provide an incentive for developers to create free games for their platform. Now, according to a recent report by Business Insider, Sony is working on the same thing.

Those familiar with the matter claim that Sony began work on the idea a good 18 months ago, and is looking to launch the option by the end of the year. While it does include in-game advertising, they are also looking to provide the option to exchange advertisement views for in-game reward items.

Sony has been very strict about who they enlist to propagate the ad space, though. Theyve issued a hard no to any advertisers wanting to collect personal information. But in fairness, this may be due to the high population of minors who frequently play free to play games. Sony is not against collecting data, since one source claims that the company is considering selling consumer activity data to developers and publisher. But since the company has not clarified how much of the ad revenue they intend to take for themselves, how Sony intends to profit from these moves remain unclear.

Call us cautious, maybe were once bitten twice shy, but were feeling fairly skeptical about how Sony will approach this concept. While non-intrusive ads are our preferred format, we still would ideally like an ad-free gaming experience. And the mention of a reward players for watching ads concept sends a mobile gaming market chill down our spines. All of these concerns are compounded by the brands general greediness over the last few years. We haven't forgotten how they charge publishers a fee for cross-play if less than 80 percent of their microtransactions AREN'T from PlayStation.

Well learn more, and fairly soon it sounds like. Lets just wish for the best.