Ubisoft Says Assassin’s Creed In-Game Pop-Up Ads Were A “Technical” Glitch

Ubisoft has responded to a video that showed an in-game ad inside an older Assassin’s Creed game seemingly prompting players to buy the newest Assassin’s Creed game.

A video making the rounds on social media shows a person playing Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, only to have their gameplay interrupted with a pop-up ad promoting the Black Friday deal on Assassin’s Creed Mirage. Many saw this as Ubisoft going too far. But according to Ubisoft, this pop-up ad 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 of the franchise news in the main menu of other Assassin’s Creed games. 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,” Ubisoft said. “We appreciate your understanding as we investigate the cause of the issue.”

The Community Notes page on Ubisoft’s tweet reminds users that this same kind of technical glitch appeared in the same game, Odyssey, more than four years ago. In any event, the glitch returned, for whatever reason.

Speaking of Black Friday, Mirage is discounted to as low as $40 right now as part of a sale.

Looking ahead, Ubisoft has many more Assassin’s Creed games in the works, including the ambitious-sounding platform Assassin’s Creed Infinity and a new game for Netflix.