Ubisoft's latest addition to the iconic Assassin's Creed series, 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 platforms, Ubisoft announced the achievement just before 4pm in Canada, celebrating the game's swift rise to popularity.
"It's not even 4pm here in Canada and Assassin's Creed Shadows has already passed 1 million players!" Ubisoft exclaimed on social media. "Thank YOU from the bottom of our hearts for joining this adventure in Feudal Japan. We are beyond excited to start this journey with you!"
While the 1 million player count on launch day is a significant accomplishment, gauging the game's overall success remains challenging without specific sales figures or targets from Ubisoft. However, Assassin's Creed Shadows currently stands as the top-selling video game on Steam globally, indicating strong revenue generation on Valve's platform.
Early data from Steam shows that Assassin's Creed Shadows reached a peak concurrent player count of 41,412 on its launch day. Given its Thursday release, expectations are high for increased player numbers over the weekend. A clearer picture of its performance on Steam will emerge in the coming weeks. Notably, neither Sony nor Microsoft disclose player numbers for their platforms.
For comparison, BioWare's single-player RPG Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which launched on Steam on October 31, 2024, achieved a peak of 70,414 players.
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The success of Assassin's Creed Shadows is crucial for Ubisoft, especially following delays and the commercial disappointment of last year's Star Wars Outlaws. The company has faced several challenges, including high-profile flops, layoffs, studio closures, and game cancellations leading up to this release.
Assassin's Creed Shadows has not been without controversy, particularly in Japan. IGN reported that Ubisoft released a day-one patch addressing concerns raised by some Japanese politicians regarding in-game representations of temples and shrines. This issue was even discussed in an official government meeting between Japanese politician Hiroyuki Kada and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
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On Steam, Assassin's Creed Shadows has received a 'very positive' user review rating, with 82% of nearly 4,000 reviews being positive. IGN's review awarded the game an 8/10, praising it for refining the series' open-world mechanics: "By sharpening the edges of its existing systems, Assassin's Creed Shadows creates 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 Tencent and other investors about a potential buyout deal that would allow them to retain control of the company.
