Since this is a translation of an overseas article, there may be mistranslations.
https://hothardware.com/news/xbox-cloud-gaming-getting-ad-supported-tier
Xbox Cloud Gaming to Introduce Ad-Supported Tier with Time-Limited Play Sessions
With additional hardware price increases expected this year, the situation for current gamers is very difficult. This challenging environment has made cloud gaming services a more attractive option, and it appears that Microsoft is aiming to capture this market by opening up its Xbox Cloud Gaming service to more users.
According to Windows Central, multiple users have reported seeing a pop-up message stating "1 hour of ad-supported play time per session" when starting new Xbox Cloud Gaming sessions. Since Xbox currently does not offer an ad-supported tier, this suggests that an ad-supported tier will be launched soon.
Microsoft has been gradually expanding Xbox Cloud Gaming for several years, initially only available to subscribers of the most expensive tier, Game Pass Ultimate. This changed last year when the service became available to users of lower-priced tiers as well, so it makes sense that the next step would be to include a limited ad-supported tier accessible to everyone.
This move will put Microsoft in direct competition with NVIDIA's GeForce Now service, which already operates its own ad-supported tier. This kind of competition is important and we can expect these services to continue to evolve as they compete to reach more gamers who are being priced out due to hardware costs.
While the launch date for this ad-supported tier is unknown, Microsoft may make an official announcement during its Xbox Developer Direct event scheduled for later this week.
▶ Original Source: https://hothardware.com/news/xbox-cloud-gaming-getting-ad-supported-tier
