Interactive advertising coming to Kinect?
Microsoft trademarks NUAds system.
Interactive advertising could be heading to Kinect-enabled Xbox 360 titles, judging by a new trademark listing.
As spotted by TechCrunch, Microsoft has filed for ownership of something called NUAds.
"Advertising services, namely, promoting and marketing the goods and services of others through online interactive video games by enabling consumers to interact with third-party advertising content through voice or body gestures via computer game console and sensor devices," read the product description.
A potentially interesting move from the platform holder and one that, should it be intrusive, might not sit well with consumers who've already paid a premium for both the hardware and its games.
It's another sign that in-game advertising is continuing to gain traction as an additional revenue stream for publishers. Earlier this year, a top EA sales exec told Forbes that there is "buckets of money" to be made in the sector.
And back in 2010, the same publisher issued a report claiming that promotions featuring in a number of its games had resulted in a 24 per cent sales bump for the respective products.