Assassin’s Creed “technical error” leads to ads in old PS4 games Assassin's Creed PS4 games are getting an advertising error that prompts players with an unwanted discount on Assassin's Creed Mirage.Kes Eylers-Stephenson Published 24 Nov 2023 FollowtopicsAssassin's Creed OdysseyUbisoftIndustry NewsPlayStation 4PlayStation 5Kes Eylers-Stephenson Well, there you were, just trying to do all your Malaka and grab Assassin's Creed Odyssey trophies. Then you pop open the map to be greeted by Basim's face, promising a discounted adventure in Mirage. It turns out, Assassin's Creed PS4 games are getting an advertising error that is resulting in some players seeing unwanted marketing.Assassin's Creed Mirage sneaks into PS4 games via advertisementIt all started with a Reddit post that shows an advert for PS5 and PS4's latest adventure when trying to access the map in 2018's PS4 entry Assassin's Creed Odyssey. The footage shows a ludicrously intrusive Black Friday pop-up punishing players for wanting to look at shapes on a massive map of Greece — something you have to do frequently as we noted in our Assassin's Creed Odyssey review.AC Mirage ad, as per Reddit thread linked in storyUbisoft spokesperson Fabien Darrigues has now officially commented on the matter, as per The Verge. “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.”While there isn't any follow-up on why or how the error came about, it does appear to have been removed from the games affected. However, given that the advertisement is directly relevant to Black Friday — you know, the week-long sales event happening contemporaneously with the error — and it is advertising in a game that came out five years later, it's unlikely this Ubisoft error really came out of thin air.Surely someone had to make the advertisement, pop some code somewhere, and actively push a button while saying: "Yeah, let's get these folks to ninth-century Baghdad on a 20% discount." It's certainly not a bad place to be — see our Assassin's Creed Mirage review for more on that — but when you live in a capitalist society you have to look at basically any attempt to make money as intentional, surely.If so, there is just no way you can get around pop-up ads being crude and scummy — particularly in years-old games. I mean, players have paid for the game already and are actively playing them, just leave them be for a moment rather than forcing them through menus with 'buy, buy, buy' written all over them. It's something Xbox has come under fire for recently, too, with full-screen ads popping up on booting up the console. Let's just hope this isn't becoming a trend. We all know advertising happens constantly, but to me, at least, there is something remarkably tacky, obtuse, and intrusive about a disrupting pop-up ad. In any case, our best Assassin's Creed game pick remains unaffected! So, what do you think of the whole thing? Is it driving you mad? Do you sympathize with players? Let us know in the comments below and we will see you there!More Assassin's Creed Odyssey stories: Assassin’s Creed Black Flag’s PS5 remake — why it needs to happen Top PS5 games of 2023 — 100 most-played PS5 and PS4 games this year Assassin's Creed Mirage brings 18% player rise to older PS4 games Assassin's Creed Odyssey review — the worst RPG is a Greek tragedy Poll: Which PS Plus Extra, Premium games for October will you play? Industry NewsPlayStation 5PlayStation 4 Written by Kes Eylers-StephensonEditor Kes is our resident expert in PlayStation and Sony news. He writes about PS5 games like LEGO Horizon Adventures, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Kingdom Come Deliverance II, Concord, and Death Stranding 2 using experience from years of PlayStation gaming. He also covers PS Plus news, as well as his favorite games — The Witcher 3, God of War, and The Last of Us — before an evening swim.