Is Microsoft getting truly desperate with adverts now? I’m seriously unimpressed with a new ‘suggestion’ to buy Avowed in Windows 10 and Windows 11

• Windows 10 and 11 users are getting an advert for Avowed
• It’s pushing the more expensive version of the game via a pop-up
• This has reportedly been happening for some time now, on top of other similar game promotions which are outright ads that cross a line

Microsoft seems to be getting more desperate with adverts these days, and more frequently pushing games in Windows for that matter, as I’ve just been confronted with a new ad for Avowed in Windows 10.

Yes, my Windows 11 upgrade schedule is running a little behind my predicted timeline, and I’m still on Windows 10, but not for much longer, as the operating system’s End of Life is only six month away now. And I’ll be shifting over especially swiftly if Microsoft is going to shove popups like this in my face via the notification center on the right-hand side of the desktop. (That said, this promotion is apparently hitting Windows 11 PCs, too, and I’ll come back to that).

The notification is labelled ‘suggested’ and is for the Avowed Premium Edition, urging me to ‘forge my destiny’ and click a button that says ‘Buy Now’ (or alternatively, there’s a button to ‘Dismiss’).

Clicking on the buy option sends you through to Microsoft’s Xbox Store, where you can buy the standalone Avowed game, or gain access to it by signing up for the Game Pass.

As you can see in the Reddit post below, I’m not the only person who’s witnessing this advert, either. Indeed, this promo is doing the rounds currently, and has also been in the past month or two, in Windows 11 and Windows 10 – since Avowed was released pretty much.

Rebooted my PC and this popped up. Microsoft must be really desperate to push Avowed. And this is the first time I've seen them suggest a game through the operating system notification on Windows 10. from r/KotakuInAction

Analysis: Outright ads are a no-go area in a paid OS, Microsoft

This Avowed advert comes on top of other games-related promotional activity, such as the same kind of notification pushing Windows 11 users to buy the Call of Duty Black Ops 6 Vault Edition.

It’s interesting to note that Microsoft is advertising the Premium Edition of Avowed, which is a considerable chunk costlier (almost 30%), and not worth it for most folks (as it only adds some skins and a digital artbook). I think it should link through to the standard edition, really, so folks are looking at the baseline product.

At this point, there may be some of you shouting at your monitor (I can’t hear you incidentally) and berating me for not turning off Microsoft’s suggestions in Windows 10 (or indeed Windows 11 for those users). Well, I keep this turned on because otherwise I can’t see what kind of nonsense Microsoft is pulling like this, and then write about it. Hopefully persuading the company to drop this idea, and all the similar promotional stuff kicking about in Windows 10 and 11.

To be fair to Microsoft, at least in this case, if you right click on the notification, there’s a link provided right there to ‘turn off all notifications for suggested’ and you can do just that. So, you don’t have to rifle through the Settings app to find this choice and exercise it.

However, these suggestions are turned on by default in Windows, and I’d argue they shouldn’t be. Microsoft would doubtless disagree and perhaps counter that in some instances, recommendations can help people – but not in the case of what’s clearly an advert like this Avowed popup. There’s no arguing that you’re helping someone make their PC and data more secure in this scenario, as Microsoft might suggest when it comes to nudging to back up your PC via OneDrive.

The truth is that outright adverts like this which clearly aren’t anything close to the typical veiled recommendations seen in Windows should not be happening at all in a paid-for desktop operating system, not unless the user explicitly wants and allows them.

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