The Week in Tech: Xbox ad breaks and Google’s category shifting product launch

Marketing Week’s weekly round-up of the technology stories that impact the marketing sector: from AI to martech, regulation to public perceptions.

· Marketing Week

By Josh Stephenson 23 Sep 2026 12:52 pm

On the agenda…

Could Xbox be gearing up to launch the first-ever ad-supported video game service?

Microsoft filed for a patent earlier this month (dated 3 September) to interrupt a user’s game at the system level and show them an advert in order to gain “credits” to continue playing.

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