Assassin’s Creed Shadows Crosses 1 Million Players on Launch Day, Ubisoft Says %v

Assassin’s Creed Shadows has made a remarkable impact on its launch day, drawing over 1 million players across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S. Ubisoft shared this milestone on social media just before 4pm in Canada on March 20, stating, "It's not even 4pm here in Canada and Assassin's Creed Shadows has already passed 1 million players! 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 is a significant achievement, it's challenging to fully assess the game's success without specific sales figures or targets from Ubisoft. However, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is currently the top-selling video game globally on Steam, indicating strong revenue generation on Valve's platform. Early Steam data shows the game reached a peak concurrent player count of 41,412 on launch day, with expectations of further growth over the weekend. A clearer picture of its Steam performance will emerge in the coming weeks. For comparison, BioWare’s Dragon Age: The Veilguard, released on October 31, 2024, achieved a peak of 70,414 players on Steam.

Assassin's Creed Shadows faces immense pressure to perform well globally for Ubisoft, especially following delays and the sales underperformance of last year's Star Wars Outlaws. The company has encountered several high-profile challenges including flops, layoffs, studio closures, and game cancellations leading up to this release. Additionally, the game has been embroiled in controversies, particularly in Japan, where Ubisoft released a day-one patch addressing concerns from Japanese politicians about in-game representations of temples and shrines. This issue was even discussed in an official government meeting by Japanese politician Hiroyuki Kada and responded to by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

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 scored the game 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, Ubisoft's founding Guillemot family and largest shareholder are reportedly in talks with Tencent and other investors about a potential buyout deal that would allow them to retain control of the company.