The stakes are incredibly high for Assassin's Creed Shadows to perform well globally for Ubisoft, especially following the delays and the disappointing sales of last year's Star Wars Outlaws. Ubisoft has faced a series of challenges recently, including high-profile flops, layoffs, studio closures, and game cancellations leading up to the release of Assassin's Creed Shadows.
The situation at Ubisoft has deteriorated to the point where the founding Guillemot family is reportedly exploring talks with Chinese mega-corp Tencent and other investors about a buyout deal. This would allow them to maintain control over the company's intellectual property.
As a result, the video game industry is closely monitoring the early performance of Assassin's Creed Shadows for any indicators of success or failure. While Ubisoft has not yet released specific sales figures, they have reported that Assassin's Creed Shadows reached 2 million players within just two days of its launch, surpassing the initial performance of both Origins and Odyssey.
Attention is also focused on Shadows' concurrent player numbers on Steam, which are being compared to those of other recent triple-A single-player games and previous Assassin's Creed titles. Over the weekend, Shadows became the most-played game in the series on Steam, reaching a peak of 64,825 concurrent players. This is noteworthy because it was the first Assassin's Creed game to launch day-one on Steam. For comparison, BioWare’s Dragon Age: The Veilguard peaked at 89,418 players on the same platform.
Determining whether Shadows is meeting, exceeding, or falling short of Ubisoft's expectations is challenging without knowing the specific targets set by the company. However, an internal email reviewed by IGN, shared by a Ubisoft source, provides insight into the game's performance over its first weekend.
The data reveals that Shadows achieved the second-highest day-one sales revenue in the franchise's history, only behind Valhalla in 2020, which benefited from being released during the stay-at-home period of the global pandemic and across multiple console generations. Shadows also set a record for Ubisoft's best day-one launch on the PlayStation Store, indicating strong performance on the PS5.
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Regarding the PC platform, where Shadows launched on both Steam and Ubisoft's own digital store, 27% of the total "activations" were on PC. Ubisoft's internal communication emphasizes that Steam played a significant role in Shadows' PC performance, though exact sales numbers remain undisclosed. Ubisoft considers the early results as a strong endorsement of their decision to return to the Steam platform.
Ubisoft is also highlighting the high levels of player engagement, describing them as "record levels." Feedback from moderated and verified platforms, which are less susceptible to review bombing, remains overwhelmingly positive. Shadows was the most-wishlisted Ubisoft game ever and is outperforming all other Assassin's Creed games on Twitch, including Valhalla.
Ubisoft's internal communications provide context for comparisons between Shadows' launch and other games in the franchise. They argue that it's unfair to compare Shadows directly to Valhalla, which launched during the "perfect storm" of the global pandemic and new console releases in 2020. Instead, Ubisoft suggests comparing Shadows to games like Origins, Odyssey, and Mirage, which were released under more typical circumstances. In this context, Shadows is setting new benchmarks.
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See your ResultsFinish playing for your personal results or see the community’s!Continue playingSee resultsUbisoft also pointed out that Shadows was released in March, a departure from the usual pre-Thanksgiving launch window that typically boosts sales. Additionally, Ubisoft did not offer an early access period for Shadows, unlike their usual practice, and their subscription service is now available directly on Xbox, complicating sales comparisons on Microsoft's console.
Ultimately, the financial performance of Assassin's Creed Shadows will be crucial not only for the game itself but for Ubisoft as a whole. A clearer picture of its revenue will likely emerge with Ubisoft's next financial report in the coming months.
For those embarking on an adventure through feudal Japan, be sure to check out our comprehensive Assassin's Creed Shadows guide, including our Assassin's Creed Shadows walkthrough, our detailed Assassin's Creed Shadows Interactive Map, and our guide to all the crucial things Assassin's Creed Shadows doesn’t tell you.
