Microsoft, having acquired Activision Blizzard, is making use of its ownership by promoting Call of Duty on Xbox consoles.
Xbox users are now seeing a full-screen Call of Duty ad as soon as they start up their consoles, and many fans are not happy about it.
Fans are concerned that this advertising strategy might become a regular occurrence, with ads appearing before users reach the console's homepage.
The ad encourages users to pick up one of the special editions of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, marking a new approach for Xbox.
Typically, ads and promoted games are confined to the Xbox storefront, but this new move raises concerns.
The appearance of this ad seems to be independent of the user's prior interest or disinterest in the Call of Duty series.
Some users see this as an attempt by Xbox to boost sales of Modern Warfare 3 on its platform, now that Microsoft owns Activision Blizzard.
Fortunately, the ad can be skipped by clicking the exit option on the right, but its presence has still sparked considerable criticism.
It's worth noting that Xbox's ownership of Activision Blizzard doesn't grant exclusivity for the Call of Duty series; these games will still be available on PlayStation for at least a decade.
Microsoft has yet to respond to the negative feedback, leaving users uncertain about whether this represents a new advertising strategy for the company.