Assassin’s Creed Shadows Reaches 3 Million Players, Ubisoft Silent on Sales

Ubisoft has announced that Assassin’s Creed Shadows has attracted over 3 million players just seven days after its launch on May 20. This impressive figure marks a significant increase from the 2 million players reported on the second day, surpassing the launch numbers of both Origins and Odyssey. Ubisoft provided additional statistics earlier, which were initially disclosed by IGN through an internal company email. The email contextualized Shadows’ opening weekend performance, noting it is more comparable to Origins and Odyssey than to the exceptional launch of Valhalla in 2020.

Shadows achieved the second highest day one sales revenue in the Assassin's Creed franchise, only behind Valhalla. It also set a record as Ubisoft's biggest day one launch on the PlayStation Store, with players collectively logging over 40 million hours of gameplay so far.

The success of Assassin’s Creed Shadows is crucial for Ubisoft, especially following a challenging period marked by delays and the underwhelming sales of last year's Star Wars Outlaws. Ubisoft faced significant setbacks, including high-profile flops, layoffs, studio closures, and game cancellations leading up to Shadows' release. Amid these struggles, the Guillemot family, Ubisoft's founders, were reportedly in discussions with Chinese conglomerate Tencent and other investors about a potential buyout to retain control of the company's intellectual property. Consequently, the gaming industry is closely monitoring Assassin’s Creed Shadows' early performance for indicators of its success or failure.

On Steam, Shadows became the most-played Assassin's Creed game ever, reaching a peak of 64,825 concurrent players over the weekend. It's notable that Shadows was the first title in the series to launch on Steam since Odyssey in 2018. For comparison, BioWare's Dragon Age: The Veilguard achieved a peak of 89,418 players on the platform.

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Determining whether Shadows meets, exceeds, or falls below Ubisoft's expectations is challenging without specific data on those expectations, revenue, or sales figures. Ultimately, the financial performance of Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be pivotal not only for the game itself but for Ubisoft as a whole. A clearer picture may emerge with Ubisoft's next financial report in the coming months.

For those eager to explore feudal Japan in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, be sure to check out our comprehensive Assassin's Creed Shadows guide, which includes our Assassin's Creed Shadows walkthrough, a detailed Assassin's Creed Shadows Interactive Map, and insights into the things Assassin’s Creed Shadows doesn’t tell you.