Some Assassin’s Creed Odyssey console players encountered in-game pop-up ads for Ubisoft’s Black Friday sale while playing the game. According to a Reddit video posted by u/triddell24, they came across an ad when they opened the world map and filled the screen with a removable banner for Assassin’s Creed Mirage, currently available at a 20 percent discount. If you click the ‘Buy Now’ button, you will probably be redirected to Mirage’s store page. Online players have understandably expressed their disappointment with the in-game advertisements disrupting gameplay. Publisher Ubisoft has since apologized for the pop-up, stating that it was a “technical error.”
“We have been made aware that some players encountered an in-game pop-up message yesterday while playing certain Assassin’s Creed titles. This was the result of a technical error that has now been resolved,” Ubisoft said in a tweet. The company has denied claims that it was a deliberate means to sell more Assassin’s Creed copies, adding that it would be featured in game menus across the franchise. However, the bug caused the promotion to appear in-game and disrupt the flow, leading many to compare it to mobile game advertisements that constantly encourage players to participate in microtransactions. That said, a Community Note at the bottom of the tweet shows a similar case from four years ago, where an Assassin’s Creed Odyssey player was hit with a pop-in ad when trying to open the map. In-game advertisements are met with the same, if not worse, outrage as microtransactions, which exist solely as a way to extract more money from customers.
We have been informed that some players encountered an in-game pop-up message yesterday while playing certain Assassin’s Creed titles. This was the result of a technical error that has now been resolved.
Our intention was to run a promotion for Assassin’s Creed Mirage as part…
— Assassin’s Creed (@assassinscreed) November 24, 2023
Both video game publishers and film production companies have experimented with ways to include pop-up ads over the years, despite coming up with ways to consume ad-free content. Netflix has been dabbling in cheaper ad-supported alternatives in the US, which could be something that live service games implement into their core model – it wouldn’t be far-fetched if you consider that as soon as you open a menu on something like Overwatch 2, you ‘ We are urged to interact with battle passes and purchase new cosmetics. Even Microsoft has started including full-screen pop-up ads for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 upon booting up the Xbox console, regardless of whether anyone already owns the game. There are clever ways for a developer to promote their own games. Remedy Entertainment is a good example of this, where it would include posters and screenshots for its other titles through banners, posters and computer screens in the world.
Earlier this month, Ubisoft confirmed that it was working on two new modes for Assassin’s Creed Mirage, which will be available as a free update in December. Although not explicitly stated, the New Game+ mode should allow players to return to ninth-century Baghdad in an overpowered state, carrying over any skill upgrades and unlocked weapons. I mentioned in my review how every upgrade in Mirage made an already simple game easier, and to that end Ubisoft is adding a permadeath mode, accessible on all difficulties. The game is a throwback to the old-school Assassin’s Creed games, focusing on a contained story and stealth assassinations before the series took a detour into the open-world RPG format with AC Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla.
Both Assassin’s Creed Mirage and Odyssey are available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series S/X.