By Maggie Ekberg
Publication Date: 2026-09-29 17:45:00
Imagine finally beating a boss, putting down the controller for half a second and getting rewarded with … a commercial.
That’s one possibility outlined in a recently published Microsoft patent application for technology that could temporarily pause a video game, serve an ad and then give players another stretch of uninterrupted playtime afterward.
Microsoft has filed a patent for ads that could interrupt games after boss fights, cutscenes, quests and multiplayer rounds
Players would receive credits granting temporary game access, while watching an ad would award another credit to let them resume pic.twitter.com/9ihb5cG7DJ
— Dexerto (@Dexerto) September 22, 2026
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The filing, titled Contextually Aware Management of Interactive Software Application Access, was filed April 23 and published Sept. 3, though it claims priority to a related Microsoft application…
