Ubisoft announced that Assassin’s Creed Shadows achieved a remarkable milestone by surpassing 1 million players on its launch day. Released on March 20 across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S, the game's popularity was evident even before 4pm in Canada, prompting Ubisoft to share their gratitude on social media. "It's not even 4pm here in Canada and Assassin's Creed Shadows has already passed 1 million players!" they exclaimed, expressing their excitement and appreciation for the community's engagement in the game's Feudal Japan setting.
While reaching 1 million players is a significant achievement, the absence of specific sales figures from Ubisoft makes it challenging to fully assess the game's success. However, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is currently the top-selling video game on Steam globally, indicating strong revenue performance on Valve’s platform. Early data from Steam shows that the game reached a peak concurrent player count of 41,412 on its launch day. Given that the game was released on a Thursday, it is anticipated that these numbers will increase over the weekend, providing a clearer picture of its performance in the coming weeks. Neither Sony nor Microsoft disclose player numbers, leaving Steam as the primary source of public data.
For comparison, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, a single-player RPG from BioWare, launched on Steam on October 31, 2024, and peaked at 70,414 concurrent players. This gives some context to Assassin’s Creed Shadows' performance on the platform.
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The launch of Assassin’s Creed Shadows comes at a critical time for Ubisoft, following several delays and the disappointing sales of Star Wars Outlaws last year. The company has faced numerous challenges, including high-profile flops, layoffs, studio closures, and game cancellations, all of which have heightened the stakes for Assassin’s Creed Shadows to succeed globally.
The game has not been without controversy, particularly in Japan. IGN reported that Ubisoft released a day-one patch for Assassin’s Creed Shadows to address concerns raised by Japanese politicians about the depiction of in-game temples and shrines. In a notable development, Japanese politician Hiroyuki Kada brought up the game in an official government meeting, prompting a response from Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
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On Steam, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is receiving positive feedback, boasting a 'very positive' user review rating with 82% of nearly 4,000 reviews being favorable. IGN's review of the game awarded it an 8/10, praising it as "one of the best versions of the open-world style it’s been honing for the last decade."
Amidst these developments, reports suggest that Ubisoft's founding Guillemot family and largest shareholder are in discussions with Chinese mega-corp Tencent and other investors regarding a potential buyout that would allow them to retain control of the company.
