Over the past week, reports have emerged of disruptive pop-up advertisements appearing unprompted in Assassin’s Creed games. Specifically, the full-screen ads promoted discounts for the franchise’s upcoming release Assassin’s Creed Mirage, jarringly interrupting gameplay. Ubisoft has since attributed the frustrating issue to a technical error amidst player criticism.
The footage reveals the ads temporarily disabling player control when entering menu screens in games such as 2018’s Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. The pop-up takes over the entire display before manually closing via controller input. While not yet confirmed as widespread, players have spotlighted these immersion-breaking ads on both PlayStation and Xbox console platforms. And by Ubisoft’s not-so-blatant admission, they were implemented intentionally, albeit seemingly untargeted to a broader range of users.
In a statement sent to The Verge, a spokesperson explained that the pop-up ads were “the result of a technical error.” It ends by saying that Ubisoft has since addressed the issue as soon as it went viral.
Il semble qu'Ubisoft expérimente la publicité en jeu chez certains utilisateurs (Xbox et PS).
Vous êtes au milieu de votre jeu, accédez à la pause ou à la Map et vous avez pendant 3sec. une pub pour un autre jeu qui s'affiche. Suffisant pour désinstaller ? 😅 pic.twitter.com/m5S4rEXas5
— Fab ✨ (@Fab_XS_) November 23, 2023
Exactly what technical mix-up led to rolling out unprompted ads remains unexplained. But intentionally inserting them into paid, single-player experiences sets a dangerous precedent regarding monetization expectations.
The internet has routinely rallied against disruptive advertisements and psychological manipulation tactics, especially within premium-priced games lacking ongoing content updates or service-based infrastructure. Blizzard Entertainment found itself on the receiving end of such backlash earlier this year, resulting in no-shows to live Diablo 4 events and an overall decline in player count. The game has since started showings signs of recovery, thankfully, due to the painful lessons Blizzard learned.
Ubisoft, a company that’s constantly flirting with controversy, most recently doubling down on its Web3 investments, should be well aware of how much public opinion can adversely affect the sales of your game.
While mobile F2P titles often rely on unavoidable ads to subsidize operations, gamers expect unobtrusive enjoyment from their full-priced investments. Even main menu promotions for related franchise products stir debates over imposing excessive consumerist messaging on captive players.
Introducing these disruptive, gameplay-blocking advertisements risks permanent brand damage, especially absent an effort to maintain transparency over ambitions to normalize such tactics long-term. Many feel this “technical error” is an excuse that thinly veils greedy motivations rather than a legitimate mistake.
Ubisoft likely intended to use this to gauge public reaction. If so, it will start doing this periodically to judge acceptable thresholds for future integration. If true, the worst case scenario is that this will encourage other publishers to watch this development to determine how fast player trust erodes from this latest monetization experiment.
Thankfully for now, rectifying this Assassin’s Creed issue swiftly quelled imminent outrage. Make no mistake – important discussions now loom regarding the possibility of similar intrusions among premium titles.
Ubisoft is currently preparing to release free content for Assassin’s Creed Mirage next month, including the addition of a permadeath mode. Although not critically acclaimed, Mirage remains one of the best outings in the franchise.
