Procrastinators everywhere rejoiced when it was discovered that Windows 10 was bringing back everyone’s favourite time waster. But unlike the last time you played Microsoft Solitaire on your PC, this time you’ll have to pay a subscription fee just to get rid of the ads.
If you’ve already loaded up Windows 10 you’ve experienced it yourself. If you’re running the standard version that comes with the upgrade, your card-sorting reverie will suddenly be interrupted by Honda commercials. And the ads are annoying, notes PC Gamer:
The ads in question aren’t small banners that appear at the bottom of the screen while you play. They run over the full Solitaire window, some for 15 seconds and some for 30 seconds, and while they don’t seem to pop up very often — in our quick and entirely unscientific testing, Wes was able to jump around in menus about 20 times and started a half-dozen games between them — they can’t be aborted. And because I know it’s bound to come up, no, you can’t buy an ad-free experience with those in-game coins. They’re strictly for unlocks.
Ugh, that sounds awful. So what can you do? When prompted, you can upgrade to the ad-free experience called Microsoft Solitaire Collection Premium Edition which costs $US1.50 a month or $US10 for a year. In addition to no ads, there’s also a chance to earn coins for “Daily Challenges.” So, um, that’s nice, I guess.
If you’re a hard-core Solitairist it’s probably worth the $US10/year so you don’t break your flow. But it just kinda sucks that something which used to come on your PC for free is now corrupted by ad buys.
The hypocrisy was duly noted by the internet:
Windows 10 is free and all and that’s cool but a BUCK FIFTY FOR SOLITAIRE FUCK MICROSOFT
— Lawrence Sonntag (@SirLarr) July 29, 2015
Hopefully this isn’t a trend for other Windows 10 features. Are they giving it away for free so they can nickel and dime us to death?
[PC Gamer]