Ubisoft's latest entry in its long-running historical action franchise has delivered impressive early results, providing a much-needed win for the embattled publisher amid recent financial struggles and restructuring efforts.
Launch Performance Exceeds Expectations
Assassin's Creed Shadows has achieved the second-highest day-one sales revenue in the franchise's history, trailing only behind 2020's Assassin's Creed Valhalla. The game reached 2 million players within just two days of release, surpassing the early player counts of both Origins and Odyssey. This strong performance comes at a critical time for Ubisoft, which has recently faced numerous challenges including high-profile commercial disappointments like Star Wars Outlaws, studio closures, and widespread layoffs.
Steam Return Proves Strategic Success
After a six-year absence from Valve's platform, Ubisoft's decision to launch Assassin's Creed Shadows simultaneously on Steam has yielded significant dividends. According to internal communications reviewed by industry sources, Steam played a major role in the game's PC performance, with PC platforms accounting for 27% of total game activations. The feudal Japan-set adventure became the most-played Assassin's Creed title ever on Steam, reaching a peak of 64,825 concurrent players over its launch weekend—though this figure falls short of the 89,418 concurrent players achieved by EA's recent Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
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| Assassin's Creed Shadows features a rich character design set in feudal Japan, enhancing player engagement and interest during its launch on Steam |
Context Behind the Numbers
Ubisoft has been careful to frame Shadows' performance appropriately in internal communications. While the game hasn't matched Valhalla's extraordinary launch numbers, the company emphasizes that comparing the two would be misleading. Valhalla benefited from what Ubisoft describes as a perfect storm of circumstances: it launched during widespread pandemic lockdowns when gaming activity surged globally, coincided with the release of next-generation consoles (PS5 and Xbox Series X|S), and debuted during the traditionally stronger November sales window rather than Shadows' March release.
Platform-Specific Success
The game has performed particularly well on PlayStation platforms, marking Ubisoft's best-ever day-one launch on the PlayStation Store. The company is also highlighting strong player engagement metrics, noting that Shadows has generated more Twitch viewership than any previous Assassin's Creed title, including Valhalla. Additionally, it became the most wishlisted Ubisoft game of all time prior to release.
Financial Implications
Despite these encouraging early indicators, the ultimate commercial success of Assassin's Creed Shadows will depend on its sustained revenue generation rather than initial player counts alone. The stakes are especially high given recent reports that Ubisoft's founding Guillemot family is exploring potential buyout options with Tencent and other investors to maintain control of the company's intellectual property.
Industry analysts will likely need to wait for Ubisoft's upcoming financial reports to gain a clearer picture of whether Shadows' performance will be sufficient to stabilize the publisher's position after a turbulent period. For now, however, the return to Steam and the strong initial reception suggest that Ubisoft's flagship franchise remains a powerful commercial force in the gaming landscape.