Ubisoft has blamed a “technical error” for a series of in-game adverts that appeared in Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey.
Over the weekend, Reddit user Triddell24 shared footage of a full-screen advert for a discount on Assassin’s Creed: Mirage that took over their screen while they were trying to access the game map while playing Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey.
Other users reported the same issue, with both Xbox and PlayStation versions of the action role-playing game affected. “This kind of shit should be considered unacceptable,” reads one highly upvoted comment. “That is not a good sign of things to come,” added another.
Ubisoft has a history of promoting various Assassin’s Creed games within the title screen, but has confirmed that the in-game advert was a mistake. “We have been made aware that some players encountered pop-up ads while playing certain Assassin’s Creed titles yesterday,” Ubisoft said in a statement to The Verge (via VGC). “This was the result of a technical error that we addressed as soon as we learned of the issue.”
“Our intention was to display a promotion for Assassin’s Creed Mirage as part of the franchise news in the main menu of other Assassin’s Creed games,” they added on Twitter.
“Unfortunately, this technical error caused the promotion to appear in one of our in-game menus instead. We want to ensure the best player experience possible, and these disruptive pop-ups were promptly removed once we learned of the issue.”
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
Assassin’s Creed: Mirage was released last month. In a four-star review, NME wrote: “Assassin’s Creed: Mirage captures the series’ early days without feeling derivative. The results are gripping: the decision to emphasise stealth pays off massively, and you’ll love sneaking around the vibrant streets and rooftops of Baghdad. Whether you’re a die-hard follower of the Hidden Ones or this is your first time wielding a hidden blade, Mirage is an exceptionally exciting adventure.”
Last week, it was reported that Ubisoft would be suspending all advertising on Twitter after it appeared that site owner Elon Musk was endorsing anti-semitism on the social media platform.
In other news, it’s been reported that TikTok owner ByteDance is set to move away from mainstream gaming, with Marvel Snap publisher Nuverse being restructured.