Ubisoft's In-Game Ad Sparks Gamer Backlash

Gamers playing Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Odyssey recently noticed a Black Friday pop-up ad for the franchise's latest entry, Assassin's Creed Mirage, sparking backlash among its community. 

The issue was first brought up by Reddit user triddel24 earlier this week who had posted a video of the pop-up on the xboxone Reddit community.

Just got an in-game advertisement when I tried to go to the map
byu/triddell24 inxboxone

Once the player clicked on the map option, an ad banner showcasing a Black Friday discount for Assassin's Creed Mirage flashed on the screen, giving the player an option to "buy now" or close the pop-up. 

The video has since garnered over 2,000 upvotes and 300 comments, with other players claiming it's ruining their game experience. 

"Totally unacceptable. If they want to advertise their newest game with a tile on the main menu before you start, like they have done for years now, that’s a bit more acceptable. But forcing it into the in-game menus is not," one of the users wrote.

However, another user noted that the pop-up may not be an Xbox pop-up, but an ad from Ubisoft. Another user confirmed this, claiming that they had also received the ad while playing on a different console. 

Ubisoft Marked the Ad As a ‘Technical Error’

Ubisoft has since addressed the pop-up appearance by claiming it was just a "technical error."

"We have been made aware that some players encountered pop-up ads while playing certain Assassin’s Creed titles yesterday," a Ubisoft spokesperson told The Verge. "This was the result of a technical error that we addressed as soon as we learned of the issue."

Eventually, the Assassin's Creed Team cleared the air with a post on X and claimed that the ad was supposed to display in the franchise news in the main menu, and not in-game. 

We have been made aware that some players encountered a pop-up message in-game while playing certain Assassin’s Creed titles yesterday. This was the result of a technical error that has now been fixed.

Our intention was to display a promotion for Assassin's Creed Mirage as part…

— Assassin's Creed (@assassinscreed) November 24, 2023

However, players are not buying it. 

In response to the post, one user insists that it was not a technical error, but a deliberate ad placement. 

In other words:

"We took your feedback. Our data shows that our players will not tolerate this. We will not push this on you at this point in time"

— Ryan GoFett24 (@zrd92490) November 24, 2023

Whether or not in-game ads become a trend of the future, it's clear players just want to play their games in peace.