Ubisoft has acknowledged a “technical error” behind the recent occurrence of fullscreen pop-up ads within the gameplay of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.
The issue, discovered this week, drew frustration from players, as the intrusive ads disrupted their gaming experience.
Reported initially by Reddit users playing on Xbox and PlayStation consoles, the unwelcome ad would suddenly appear upon navigating to the map screen during gameplay.
The community expressed displeasure and disappointment at the untimely interruption caused by these ads, labeling the experience as “disgusting.”
Speaking to The Verge, Ubisoft spokesperson Fabien Darrigues confirmed the company’s awareness of the problem.
Darrigues stated, “We have been made aware that some players encountered pop-up ads while playing certain Assassin’s Creed titles yesterday.”
“This was the result of a technical error that we addressed as soon as we learned of the issue.”
Initially puzzling was why the game was displaying Black Friday pop-up ads promoting Ubisoft’s latest Assassin’s Creed versions.
Ubisoft later clarified the situation, explaining via a post on social media platform X that they intended to feature an ad for Assassin’s Creed Mirage in the main menu.
However, due to a “technical error,” the promotion appeared within the in-game menus instead.
This incident stands apart from traditional gaming advertisements. While Microsoft had previously used fullscreen Xbox pop-up ads to promote its games, these appeared only during Xbox boot-up and weren’t universal.
Comparatively, Ubisoft’s case involved intrusive ads directly within ongoing gameplay, a rarity in the gaming sphere.
