Assassin’s Creed Mirage Pop-Up Advert in Other AC Games Was Result of a ‘Technical Error,’ Ubisoft Claims

Some Assassin’s Creed Odyssey players ran into an in-game Black Friday Sale ad when trying to open the world map.

Written by Rahul Chettiyar, Edited by Manas Mitul | Updated: 27 November 2023 13:17 IST

Assassin’s Creed Mirage Pop-Up Advert in Other AC Games Was Result of a ‘Technical Error,’ Ubisoft Claims

Photo Credit: Ubisoft

Assassin's Creed Mirage revisits the franchise’s stealth-based killing roots

Highlights

Ubisoft says it intended to include the promotion within game menus
A similar in-game ad was spotted in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, 4 years ago
Assassin’s Creed Mirage is bringing New Game+ and Permadeath modes

Some Assassin's Creed Odyssey console players encountered in-game pop-up ads for Ubisoft's Black Friday Sale while playing the game. As per a Reddit video posted by u/triddell24, they stumbled upon an advertisement when toggling open the world map, filling the screen with a dismissible banner for Assassin's Creed Mirage, currently available at a 20 percent discount. Clicking the ‘Buy Now' button would presumably redirect to the store page for Mirage. Players online have understandable expressed their disappointment over the in-game advertisement that interferes with gameplay. Publisher Ubisoft has since apologised for the pop-up, in addition to stating it was a ‘technical error.'

“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,” Ubisoft addressed in a tweet. The company has denied claims that it was an intentional means to sell more Assassin's Creed copies, adding that it was supposed to be displayed on in-game menus across the franchise. However, the error caused the promotion to show up in-game and disrupt the flow, causing many to compare it to mobile game ads that constantly urge players to engage with microtransactions. That said, a Community Note attached at the bottom of the tweet shows a similar instance 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 solely exist as a way to extract more money from customers.

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

Both video game publishers and movie production companies have experimented with ways to include pop-up ads over the years, despite inventing ways to consume ad-free content. Netflix has been dabbling with cheaper ad-supported alternatives in the US, which could be something live service games implement into their core model — it wouldn't feel far-fetched considering the second you open a menu on something like Overwatch 2, you're urged to interact with battle passes and purchase new cosmetics. Even Microsoft has started incorporating fullscreen pop–up ads for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 upon booting up the Xbox console, regardless of whether someone already owned the game. There are crafty ways for a developer to promote its own games — Remedy Entertainment being a great example, where it would include posters and screenshots for its other titles via in-world banners, posters, and computer screens.

Earlier this month, Ubisoft confirmed that it was working on two new modes for Assassin's Creed Mirage, available as a free update in December. While not explicitly mentioned, the New Game+ mode should allow players to plunge back into ninth-century Baghdad in an overpowered state, carrying over any skill upgrades and weapon unlocks. I mentioned in my review how every upgrade in Mirage made an already straightforward game easier, and to that effect, Ubisoft is adding a permadeath mode, accessible across all difficulty levels. The game is a throwback to the old-school Assassin's Creed games focused on a contained story and stealthy killings 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.

What are the most exciting titles that gamers can look forward to in 2023? We discuss some of our favourites on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Assassin's Creed Mirage

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Good
Tighter scope
Baghdad is dense and lively
Stealth is back
Effective and clunky combat
No icon clutter on map

Bad
Dull story and characters
Stiff voice acting
Repetitive, non-challenging gameplay loop
Dumb enemy AI
Overpowered skill tree
Lack of Tool variety
Lack of regional diversity in map

Read detailed Ubisoft Assassin's Creed Mirage review

Genre Action-Adventure

Platform Amazon Luna, PlayStation 4 (PS4), PlayStation 5 (PS5), Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PC: Windows

Modes Single-player

Series Assassin's Creed

PEGI Rating 18+

More Ubisoft Games

Assassin's Creed Odyssey

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Good
Slick combat
Lots of abilities that shake up gameplay
Actions impact story in sweeping ways

Bad
Poor photo mode implementation

Read detailed Ubisoft Assassin's Creed Odyssey review

Genre RPG

Platform Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 (PS4), Stadia, Xbox One, PC: Windows

Modes Single-player

Series Assassin's Creed

PEGI Rating 18+

More Ubisoft Games

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