Ubisoft blames Assassin's Creed in-game Black Friday pop-up ads on technical error

Ubisoft has said that pop-up adverts seen last night within Assassin's Creed games have now been disabled, and were the result of a technical error.

The adverts, which promoted other games in the Assassin's Creed series that are currently on sale for Black Friday, were spotted by some players yesterday evening, prompting complaints online.

Players reported seeing the adverts pop-up when they paused the action to load the in-game map. One example shared on X, formerly Twitter, shows an advert for 20 percent off Assassin's Creed Mirage fill the screen when a player accesses the map within Assassin's Creed Odyssey.

You can see how this looked below:

In a statement to Eurogamer, Ubisoft said the adverts have now been disabled.

"We have been made aware that some players encountered pop-up ads while playing certain Assassin's Creed titles yesterday," a Ubisoft spokesperson said. "This was the result of a technical error that we addressed as soon as we learned of the issue."

Assassin's Creed Mirage launched in September to a positive response, and has sold well. December will bring a fresh update to the game with a New Game Plus mode - oh, and you can already now switch off that annoying chromatic aberration.

"A fascinating new city and the embrace of a classic formula," Christian Donlan wrote in Eurogamer's Assassin's Creed Mirage review. And hey, I hear it's currently being sold at a discount?