Sony reportedly plans to put ads in PlayStation games

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

According to a report by Insider, Sony is working to bring advertisements to free-to-play games. The ads are meant to give game developers a way to monetize their work and encourage them to continue building free-to-play games.

The in-game ads are expected to launch by the end of the year and will appear in places like billboards. The ads would be sold through a private marketplace and players could get rewards for watching them. Sources told Insider that Sony hasn't decided if it will take a portion of ad revenue or if it will have developers and publishers pay for consumer data.

A request for comment was not immediately responded to by Sony.

Insider reported last week that Microsoft was planning on doing something similar with free-to-play Xbox games. Sources told Insider that Microsoft doesn't plan to take a cut of revenue when ads in free-to-play games are rolled out later this year.

Advertisers may need some convincing to join the program. Tracking what users do after seeing an in-game ad that appears next to mature or violent content might be difficult. According to Insider, Microsoft is concerned about the possibility of ads annoying people.