XR Today reported last week US technology leader Facebook had begun testing virtual reality (VR) advertisements on its Oculus Quest headset line-up.
The advert testing comes amid the May 17th Oculus version 29 (V29) update, which brought new social features to the hardware. According to Oculus, developers can run advertisements in their own applications to promote upcoming projects.
Facebook has begun official testing with Blaston, a popular VR game from Swedish developers Resolution Games, and plans to include two additional titles, the Verge reported on Monday.
User Backlash
According to the report, users posted dozens of negative reviews on the game’s storefront before Blaston could integrate the adverts.
Many frustrated players took to the review page to show their anger towards the adverts on a game they had already paid for, it added.
In wake of user backlash, Resolution have reversed their decision to display adverts in Blaston.
Tommy Palm, CEO and co-founder of Resolution Games said in a statement to Verge:
“These responses are bigger than Blaston and something that the games industry has been seeing for years. At Resolution Games, any integration we do first and foremost takes into account the players and their gameplay experiences”
Mr Palm added Blaston will not continue adverts going forward as it was not “the best fit” for testing, adding while the game would remain advert free, other titles will contain advertisements in the future.
Tommy Palm continued, stating “all valuable information that will be taken into consideration when the small test begins later this summer.”
Resolutiong Games will remove adverts from Blaston and other paid titles, but may still test on free games such as “Bait!”, the report concluded.
Facebook is aware the adverts could appear intrusive, but assures they are in the best of intentions of developers and users.
It also expects adverts to appear in two other Oculus apps, but has not offered an update on testing.
“Our goal is to help developers—and the experiences they create, both big and small—be discovered by more people,” Oculus said in a May 17 statement on the matter.
