After being rumoured for what feels like years, Xbox has finally begun publicly testing its newest service: free game streaming supported by adverts.

The new system is initially being made available through the Xbox Insider programme, and the basic idea is straightforward. Players can watch a selection of adverts before streaming supported Xbox games they already own, with each gameplay session limited to one hour.

Xbox promises that once the adverts are finished, the following hour of gameplay will be entirely uninterrupted. However, the company hasn’t specified how many adverts players will have to watch or how long the opening ad break will last. Previous reporting suggested around two minutes of adverts, but Xbox’s official announcement makes no such commitment.

What happens after that hour is also unclear. Do you simply watch another batch of adverts to unlock another hour? Are you booted out and forced to wait before beginning another session? Is there a daily or monthly limit?

The official Xbox Wire post merely describes them as “one hour session limits,” leaving all of those questions unanswered. Previous reports claimed Microsoft was testing a limit of five free hours per month, but that restriction isn’t mentioned in the newly announced public test. We’ll presumably have to wait for further clarification or speak to people who have actually tried the system.

While ad-supported Xbox streaming has been rumoured for quite some time, Microsoft is presenting the service as one way to combat the rapidly rising cost of gaming hardware.

“For many players, the device they already own now allows them to stream games with Xbox. Cloud can also help Xbox One owners play newer games built for Xbox Series X|S without needing to purchase new hardware right away. That can be especially meaningful in places where consoles are harder to find or less affordable, giving more players another way to access great games on devices they already have.”

Considering Microsoft recently announced its third Xbox console price increase in just over a year, this does make a degree of sense. Console gaming is becoming increasingly expensive, and a way to play games for free is better than nothing, even if it means sitting through a few adverts first.

It could also prove genuinely useful for people who already own Xbox games but don’t have access to suitable hardware. Xbox One owners could stream newer Series X/S releases, while anyone with a supported PC, television, phone or tablet potentially has another way to access their existing library without purchasing a new console or paying for cloud gaming through Game Pass.

Xbox says it will hold adverts to the same quality bar as its other content, clearly identify advertising and ensure that the adverts shown fit what players expect from each platform. Most importantly, Microsoft claims it won’t interrupt the flow of gameplay.

Understandably, though, introducing more advertising into video games is always going to make people wary. Microsoft isn’t exactly known for leaving potential revenue sitting untouched out of pure kindness.

How many adverts will players eventually be asked to watch? How long before one uninterrupted hour becomes 30 minutes, or 15? More worryingly, could a successful test eventually encourage Microsoft to introduce advertising into paid Game Pass tiers?

None of that is currently happening, and this remains an optional, limited test offering people a free alternative to Xbox’s existing paid cloud-streaming options. However, Xbox is in a precarious position and desperately needs to bring in more money while its latest restructuring continues. People are therefore right to question whether this is simply a useful free service or the first step towards advertising becoming a much bigger part of the wider Xbox ecosystem.

For now, though, the proposition is simple enough: watch some adverts, stream one of your supported games for an hour and keep your wallet firmly closed. What happens after those 60 minutes is the part Xbox still needs to explain.