Xbox's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 ad replaces custom backgrounds

Xbox owners who turned on their consoles on the launch day of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 found a large takeover ad for the game, according to GameSpot. This year’s version goes further than previous ones: it replaces the custom background players had chosen.

GameSpot reports that Microsoft has a history of running big takeover ads when a major first-party game arrives on Xbox. Players online complained that the ad wipes out their own background and forces a giant promotion for a game they may not care about.

How to turn it off

Players online quickly found a workaround, GameSpot says. Go to Settings > General > Personalization > My Background and uncheck “Show event-themed backgrounds.”

Why it matters

The takeover arrives while Microsoft is leaning further into advertising. GameSpot notes that Xbox users can currently test a free, ad-supported version of Xbox Cloud Gaming, and that many people dislike the idea.

Xbox’s new chief strategy officer, Matthew Ball, supports putting more ads into gaming. GameSpot says he describes a “two-sided problem”: development costs for many games are now “way too high,” and consumers do not want to pay more. Ball sees advertising as one possible answer.

Xbox is not alone in this. Electronic Arts has launched a platform called EA Advertising, which it plans to use to place ads “directly into gameplay,” according to GameSpot.

The game itself is receiving good reviews. GameSpot reports that Modern Warfare 4 currently holds an 84 on Metacritic, and its own review covers the campaign, DMZ and multiplayer modes.

What we don’t know yet

The sources do not say whether Microsoft plans to change how the background takeover works, or whether future first-party launches will use the same approach.