14 DAY TRIAL // Ads are slowly making their way into gaming and, after seeing interactive billboards in games like Deus Ex: Human Revolution, a patent filed by Sony has surfaced, showing a system designed to interrupt gameplay and showcase an ad for a certain period.
Sony has helped release quite a few free-to-play titles on its PlayStation 3 platform, starting with MMOs like DC Universe Online or Free Realms, and continuing with the Killzone 3 multiplayer or the upcoming Dust 514.
According to a patent filed last year and spotted on NeoGAF, the company might soon start trying to extract more money from such free titles by interrupting the player’s experience and forcing him to watch a commercial for a certain time.
In order to prevent unwanted repercussions, the game will pause in the background and, after ending the ad, it will rewind for a few seconds in order to make everything as seamless as possible.
While filing a patent doesn’t necessarily mean it will implement such a mechanic, let’s hope that Sony will refrain from interrupting games with ads in the future.