Microsoft has patented an “ad-credit” system designed to serve advertisements and announcements during PC and Xbox game sessions while minimising disruption to gameplay.

The patent, titled Contextually Aware Management of Interactive Software Application Access, was filed earlier this month and describes a system that identifies natural breaks in gameplay, such as loading screens, menus, and the end of missions or rounds.

Once an appropriate break is detected, the system could pause the game and display an advertisement or other content. Gameplay and player controls would be temporarily suspended while the content is shown, preventing players from losing progress.

After viewing the content, players could receive a “credit” granting them a period of uninterrupted play. According to the patent, this could range from 15 minutes to an hour or more.

Rather than being based solely on time, the ad-free period could also be tied to progress or specific in-game events.

The patent gives examples including “five rounds of gameplay, completing one level, completing three online multiplayer matches, defeating an NPC, or completing a project or task.”

The filing does not mean Microsoft intends to introduce the system commercially, but it comes as Xbox continues to experiment with advertising as part of its cloud gaming business.

Reports in 2022 suggested Xbox was considering in-game advertising for free-to-play titles. More recently, Microsoft began testing ad-supported Xbox cloud gaming, allowing Xbox Insider Program participants to access free, one-hour game streaming sessions.

Under the current test, advertisements are shown before each streaming session rather than during gameplay, leaving the games themselves unchanged.

Xbox has also announced plans to introduce monthly cloud gaming limits for Game Pass subscribers in November 2026.

Game Pass Essential subscribers will receive five hours of cloud gaming per month, while Premium members will receive 10 hours and Ultimate subscribers 15 hours. Additional cloud gaming time will be available to purchase through the Xbox Store after those limits are reached.

Xbox said the changes were necessary because “the cost of providing cloud gaming grows as more people use it and play for longer.”

The patent also arrives amid another period of restructuring at Xbox.

This week, the company announced that 268 positions would be affected across Halo Studios, other first-party developers, and Xbox Game Studios.

Rare and Age of Empires developer World’s Edge have been transferred to Activision, which will also take responsibility for managing the Halo franchise.

Obsidian has moved under Bethesda, while Playground Games and Turn 10 have been combined into a single studio.