Microsoft to roll out Xbox Cloud Gaming ad-supported tier

Leaks indicate that Microsoft is gearing up to announce a new ad-supported tier for Xbox Cloud Gaming, following messages that appeared in front of users of the Xbox Cloud Gaming service that stated, "one hour of ad-supported play time per session."

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The messages attracted the attention of Xbox insider Jez Corden, who penned a report over the weekend that outlined a change, per an unnamed source. "(adverts) will appear separately on Xbox Cloud Gaming, for those who have purchased Xbox games digitally, but don't have Xbox Game Pass. Microsoft has hundreds of games available to buy via Xbox Cloud Gaming, but as of writing, you need at least one tier of Xbox Game Pass to access them. This session-based ad-supported access tier will change that."

This isn't the first time Microsoft has dipped its toe in the water of an ad-supported tier of Xbox Cloud Gaming, as in October last year, the company said it was exploring a "free ad-supported" access tier. From Microsoft's perspective, it does make sense to roll out an ad-supported tier for its Xbox Cloud Gaming service, as it's expected that more users will adopt the service in the coming years due to the growing cost of hardware, particularly fuelled by the endless hunger of the AI sector gobbling up global supply.

Furthermore, Microsoft is still paying for the servers to run the Xbox Cloud Gaming service, and rolling out an ad-supported tier that an expected number of users will likely adopt in the years to come is an easy way for Microsoft to recoup some of that server cost. The report states Microsoft will make the announcement sometime this year.