Xbox Series X and S fans were treated to a rude introduction when they turned on their consoles earlier today.
As reported by Windows Central, Microsoft served Xbox Series owners with a pop-up ad for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III. Activision’s latest installment of the shooter franchise is the first one to be published under Activision’s new owner, Microsoft.
You can see the pop-up ad as shared by Tom Warren below. As you can see, the pop-up is arranged so that it makes you buy the basic version of the game by default. You can also choose to buy the Vault Edition Upgrade, or, to simply exit the pop-up ad without buying anything.
On one end, pop-up ads are harmless. You can just choose the right option and exit the ad, and if you accidentally click any of the buy buttons, you can just cancel them before going through with any purchase.
On the other hand, it is an issue for Xbox owners, because they are getting these ads on a platform they paid for. We do generally understand that console companies like Microsoft sell consoles at a loss. All companies do make their money back on software sales, and they also use their consoles to promote games to their users.
But Microsoft’s use of pop-up ads is more aggressive than their peers, and they have received a lot of criticism for it in the past. This is the first time Xbox has received a pop-up like it in a while.
Now, this in no way justifies Microsoft’s use of the pop-up ad, but we can understand why they did it as well. Sony held exclusive advertising rights for Call of Duty on their platform for a good five years.
This move was not so much about getting even with Sony, but about Microsoft wanting to make sure their own user base felt that promotional push. Hopefully, Microsoft won’t feel the need to repeat this trick next year when they can run their own ads for Call of Duty on TV, YouTube, Twitch, and other platforms.
On the off chance that you actually like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, Microsoft does have a treat you can choose to install to your Xbox of your own volition. A new dynamic background is available for the game on Xbox Series X and S consoles. No need to buy it, you just have to go through to your settings to download and apply it. You can see what the background looks like below.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III will be released on November 11, 2023, on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows, on Steam and Blizzard.net.
