Ubisoft Compares Assassin's Creed Shadows to Origins

Ubisoft is banking heavily on the success of Assassin's Creed Shadows following several project delays and the commercial underperformance of last year's Star Wars Outlaws. The company has faced a series of notable commercial failures, staff reductions, studio shutdowns, and canceled projects leading up to the release of Assassin's Creed Shadows.

The situation at Ubisoft has become so challenging that the founding Guillemot family is reportedly in discussions with Chinese giant Tencent and other potential investors regarding a buyout arrangement that could allow them to maintain control over the company's intellectual property portfolio.

Consequently, the gaming industry is closely monitoring the early performance indicators for Assassin's Creed Shadows to gauge its commercial trajectory. While Ubisoft hasn't released specific sales numbers yet, the company confirmed that Assassin's Creed Shadows attracted 2 million players within just two days of launch, outpacing the initial performance of both Origins and Odyssey.

Significant attention is also focused on Shadows' concurrent player numbers on Steam, with comparisons being drawn against other recent AAA single-player releases and previous Assassin's Creed titles on Valve's platform.

Shadows achieved the highest concurrent player count for any Assassin's Creed game on Steam over the weekend, peaking at 64,825 players. It's important to note, however, that this was the first series entry to receive a same-day Steam release. By comparison, BioWare's single-player RPG Dragon Age: The Veilguard reached a peak of 89,418 concurrent players on Steam.

Determining whether Shadows is underperforming, meeting, or exceeding Ubisoft's expectations is challenging without knowing the company's internal targets. However, an internal Ubisoft communication obtained by IGN provides valuable context regarding the game's opening weekend performance.

Key findings include: Shadows generated the second-highest day-one sales revenue in franchise history, trailing only 2020's Valhalla, which launched across multiple console generations and benefited from increased gaming engagement during pandemic-related lockdowns.

The game also marked Ubisoft's most successful day-one launch on the PlayStation Store, indicating particularly strong performance on PS5.

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Regarding PC performance, given Shadows' simultaneous launch on both Steam and Ubisoft's digital store, internal communications indicate that PC accounted for 27% of total game activations. Ubisoft informed staff that Steam "played a significant role" in the PC performance, though specific sales figures weren't disclosed. The company described early results as "strong validation of our decision to return to the platform."

Ubisoft is emphasizing strong player engagement metrics, describing them as "record-breaking," with "overwhelmingly positive feedback across moderated, verified platforms — those less susceptible to review bombing." Shadows was also the most wishlisted Ubisoft title in history and is generating higher viewership metrics on Twitch than any previous Assassin's Creed game, including Valhalla.

The internal communication provides important context for comparing Shadows' launch performance with other franchise entries. While Shadows isn't matching Valhalla's launch numbers, Ubisoft contends this isn't a fair comparison, as Valhalla launched during a "perfect storm" of pandemic-driven gaming demand alongside new console hardware releases in 2020.

"Valhalla launched under extraordinary circumstances — during global pandemic lockdowns coinciding with new console hardware availability," the internal document states. "This created an unprecedented market environment we may never witness again. Therefore, comparing Shadows to titles like Origins, Odyssey, and Mirage — releases during more typical market conditions — provides more meaningful benchmarks. Within that framework, Shadows is already establishing new performance standards as demonstrated above."

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Ubisoft also highlighted Shadows' unusual March release window. Historically, Assassin's Creed games launch near the U.S. Thanksgiving period, which traditionally boosts sales. Additionally, the company eliminated the paid early access period typically offered with its premium releases. It's also noteworthy that Ubisoft's subscription service is now directly available on Xbox, affecting sales metrics on Microsoft's platform and complicating direct comparisons.

Ultimately, financial performance will determine the outcome for both Assassin's Creed Shadows and Ubisoft, regardless of player count and engagement metrics. A clearer financial picture may not emerge until Ubisoft's next earnings report in the coming months.

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