The costs of high-budget game development are increasing day by day. The main reason for this is the shift from linear games that used to offer a story of around 10-20 hours to open-world experiences lasting up to 100 hours. However, this change hasn’t managed to offset the costs. Consequently, in the last 1-2 years, we have witnessed new games being released with a price tag of $70 instead of the usual $60. Apparently, even this wasn’t sufficient, as Ubisoft has started to include in-game ads, similar to those found in YouTube videos. Here are the details…

Ubisoft’s Shift to In-Game Ads Raises Concerns Over User Experience

Imagine you’re in the middle of playing an Assassin’s Creed game—eliminating Templars, evading villains, and chasing treasures. What could ruin the experience for you? Let me tell you, in-game ads. It seems that Ubisoft has begun testing pop-up ads in games that users have purchased by paying money.

This situation, revealed through social media posts, occurs as you navigate through menus to look at the map or perform other actions. For instance, you might want to check where you want to go on the map. Great! But first, would you like to buy Ubisoft’s new game?

Although the ad lasts for about 3 seconds, it’s enough to “ruin” the experience. It’s worth noting that there is no mention of such ads or a price adjustment when you purchase any Ubisoft game. If the company had offered a $50 ad-supported package alongside the full gaming experience, it wouldn’t have been an issue. However, this is not the case.

After the incident gained significant attention on social media, Ubisoft officials didn’t stay silent and provided an explanation. According to Ubisoft, everything that happened was just a result of a technical error. Even though it’s not within our expertise as TeknoBurada editors to delve into the game development process, this explanation doesn’t seem very satisfying. Nevertheless, it’s a relief that the company seems to have abandoned such intentions, even if they were genuine.

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