Highlights

  • Ubisoft claims that the in-game ads for Assassin's Creed Mirage in older games were unintentional and the result of a technical error.
  • Players are unhappy with the intrusive pop-up ads, especially in games that are several years old, and feel that paying for a game should exempt them from in-game advertisements.
  • In-game advertisements are not exclusive to Ubisoft, as other publishers have also used similar practices, indicating that this is a widespread trend in the gaming industry.

In response to players encountering intrusive Assassin's Creed Mirage ads in-game, publisher and developer Ubisoft claims the full-page pop-ups were not intentional. Assassin's Creed Mirage, the latest entry in the acclaimed action-adventure series, takes the series back to its roots, focusing on stealth and parkour rather than RPG elements like other recent titles. Mirage is currently listed at a discounted rate thanks to ongoing Black Friday 2023 video game deals, a fact some Assassin's Creed fans are very aware of.

Assassin's Creed Odyssey players are getting hit with in-game ads for Mirage when attempting to open the map. In an admittedly unintentional marketing push, Ubisoft is featuring a deal for its newest title on a six-year-old game that hasn't been updated since 2021. Gamers were also reportedly experiencing these ads in Assassin's Creed Origins and across platforms. It should be noted, however, that there were no mentions of the ad running in the more recent franchise entry, Assassin's CreedValhalla. Many gamers aren't too happy with the advertisements, but Ubisoft is insisting the pop-ups are unintentional.

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After reports of the in-game advertisement circulated online, Ubisoft told IGN the ads were "the result of a technical error" that the team addressed as soon as it was brought to their attention. However, Ubisoft did not explain how the error occurred in the first place.

While playing the games offline should be enough to circumvent the Assassin's Creed Mirage Black Friday ads, fans generally aren't too happy about the practice in the first place. While Ubisoft has historically been aggressive with its promotion of new titles and DLC, players are upset about the full-page pop-ups in titles that are six and seven years old, especially when trying to open up the in-game map.

Ubisoft isn't entirely alone in this practice. Xbox players experienced full-screen ads for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 before the game's release. While this pop-up didn't occur in-game, it did bombard gamers as they booted up their consoles. At the very least, however, it was only a one-time pop-up that could easily be closed out.

Still, in-game advertisements aren't likely to go away any time soon, as it appears to be a widespread practice across publishers. Just earlier this year, Mortal Kombat 11 players were upset by in-game Hogwarts Legacy ads. The consensus is that gamers feel as though paying $60 or $70 for a game should make them exempt from in-game advertisements. Recent advertising practices, however, suggest that publishers might not feel the same way.