Last Updated on Jul 23, 2026 @ 17:43:52 PM.
Rumoured for a long time, we finally have confirmation that XBOX will be rolling out adverts in-between “one hour blocks” of gaming to select volunteers that are a part of XBOX Insiders, a report from Variety said today.
Starting tomorrow, Thursday 23rd of July, those volunteers selected will be able to try out the free ad-supported streaming option via games they already own including the recently release 007 First Light, and Call of Duty: Warzone. With a little over 1,800 games supporting Cloud Streaming on the XBOX Store, it’ll be interesting to see where exactly this heads, although at this point XBOX aren’t confirming one way or the other if it’ll eventually lead into a fully-fledged tier of Cloud Streaming, instead saying “we’ll learn from this test and continue to improve it based on how players use it and what they tell us.”.
The XBOX Insiders, once they’ve chosen the game in question, will be presented with a two minute stream of ads that Variety confirmed will be “from globally recognizable brands and specific to the markets that Xbox Insiders are viewing them within.”. After that, they then have an hour of uninterrupted gameplay. At the end of that hour, with a countdown warning players, the player will have the opportunity to sit through another two minutes of ads. Rinse and repeat.
In the XBOX Wire news post announcing the roll out, XBOX were clear on two tenets of their ad-strategy. Firstly, the order of things ad-related:
- Ads will play before sessions begin.
- The core game experience is unchanged.
- This is optional. Players can choose other ways to play at any time.
Secondly, they explained how they’ll approach their ad-supported strategy going forward:
Given that, we want to be clear about how we will approach ad-supported services across XBOX:
- We start with the player. Ads should create value.
- We do not interrupt the flow of gameplay.
- We hold ads to the same quality bar as our content.
- We’re clear about what’s advertising.
- We make sure ads fit what players expect on each platform.
The inclusion of ads is nothing new, with rumours and reports of ads in-game doing the rounds for a while. This is a new confirmation of the direction going forward for the ailing hardware company, and it’ll be likely that PlayStation will follow closely behind in the coming months or years.
What do you think of XBOX’s decision? Will you be using the service if they make it available as a free tier to gamers? How do you feel about it? Let us know in the comments below!
For your next read, check out the EA Sports FC 27 reveal trailer, or the Supermarket Simulator 2 Nintendo Switch 2 physical edition announcement.
Luke Addison is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Thumb Wars. Having previously been a part of multiple outlets over the years, including building an entire gaming team from nothing to something, he thought it best to forge his own path and answer only to himself. As likely to be found playing the latest game as he is in the kitchen relaxing (by cooking), he always brings the same bold and brash attitude to everything he does, with a heavy leaning on sarcasm and dry wit!
