The launch of Assassin's Creed Shadows comes with immense pressure for Ubisoft, following several delays and the disappointing sales of last year's Star Wars Outlaws. Ubisoft has faced numerous challenges recently, including high-profile flops, layoffs, studio closures, and game cancellations leading up to the release of Assassin's Creed Shadows.

The situation has become so dire that Ubisoft's founding Guillemot family is reportedly exploring talks with Chinese mega-corp Tencent and other investors about a buyout deal that would allow them to maintain control over the company's intellectual property.

The gaming industry is closely monitoring the early performance of Assassin's Creed Shadows to gauge its success or failure. While Ubisoft has not yet disclosed specific sales figures, they reported that the game reached 2 million players within just two days of its launch, surpassing the launch performance of both Origins and Odyssey.

There's also considerable interest in Shadows' Steam concurrent player numbers, which are being compared to those of other recent triple-A single-player games, as well as previous entries in the Assassin's Creed series on Valve’s platform. Over the weekend, Shadows achieved the highest peak concurrent player count in the series' history on Steam, reaching 64,825 players. It's important to note, however, that this was the first Assassin's Creed game to launch on Steam on day one. In comparison, Dragon Age: The Veilguard by BioWare peaked at 89,418 players on the same platform.

It's challenging to determine if Shadows is meeting, exceeding, or falling short of Ubisoft's expectations without knowing what those expectations were. However, a source from within Ubisoft, who reviewed an internal email for IGN, provided insights into the game's performance over its first weekend.

According to this information, Shadows achieved the second-highest day-one sales revenue in the franchise's history, only behind Valhalla from 2020, which benefited from being released during the stay-at-home period of the global pandemic and across multiple console generations. Shadows also set a new record for Ubisoft's best day-one launch on the PlayStation Store, indicating strong performance on the PS5.

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On the PC front, where Shadows was also available on Steam and Ubisoft's own digital store, 27% of the game's total activations occurred on PC. Ubisoft emphasized that Steam played a significant role in Shadows' PC performance, though exact sell-through numbers were not disclosed. They stated that early results "are a strong validation of our decision to return to the platform."

Ubisoft is highlighting strong player engagement, which is at "record levels," and positive feedback across moderated, verified platforms, which are less susceptible to review bombing. Shadows was the most-wishlisted Ubisoft game of all time and is outperforming all other Assassin's Creed games on Twitch, even surpassing Valhalla.

Ubisoft's internal communications provide context for comparisons between Shadows' launch and other games in the franchise. While Shadows did not perform as well as Valhalla at launch, Ubisoft argues that such a comparison is unfair due to the "perfect storm" conditions that Valhalla benefited from, including the global pandemic and new console hardware launches. Instead, Ubisoft suggests comparing Shadows to games like Origins, Odyssey, and Mirage, which were released under more typical circumstances. In this context, Shadows is setting a new benchmark.

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Ubisoft also noted that Shadows was released in March, deviating from the usual launch timing just before the U.S. Thanksgiving window, which traditionally boosts sales. Additionally, Ubisoft did not offer an early access period for Shadows, which they typically charge extra for. It's also noteworthy that Ubisoft's own subscription service is now directly available on Xbox, which impacts sales on Microsoft's console and complicates sales comparisons.

Ultimately, the financial success of Assassin's Creed Shadows will be critical not only for the game but for Ubisoft's future as well. A clearer picture of its revenue performance may emerge with Ubisoft's next financial report in the coming months.

Interested in exploring feudal Japan with Assassin's Creed Shadows? Check out our comprehensive Assassin's Creed Shadows guide, including our Assassin's Creed Shadows walkthrough, our detailed Assassin's Creed Shadows Interactive Map, and our guide to all the crucial things Assassin's Creed Shadows doesn’t tell you.