Assassin’s Creed Shadows achieved a remarkable milestone by surpassing 1 million players on its launch day, Ubisoft announced. The game, released on March 20 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S, reached this impressive figure before 4pm in Canada, as shared by Ubisoft on social media.
"It's not even 4pm here in Canada and Assassin's Creed Shadows has already passed 1 million players!" Ubisoft exclaimed. "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 reaching 1 million players on launch day is a notable achievement, it's challenging to fully assess the game's success without specific sales figures or targets from Ubisoft. However, Assassin’s Creed Shadows currently tops the global sales chart on Steam, indicating it is generating more revenue than any other game on the platform. Early data from Steam shows that the game hit a peak concurrent player count of 41,412 on its launch day. Given its Thursday release, it's anticipated that these numbers will increase over the first weekend. A clearer picture of its performance on Steam will emerge in the coming weeks. Neither Sony nor Microsoft disclose player numbers publicly.
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 launch of Assassin's Creed Shadows comes at a critical time for Ubisoft, following delays and the commercial underperformance of last year’s Star Wars Outlaws. Ubisoft has faced numerous 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. Recently, IGN reported that Ubisoft released a day-one patch addressing concerns from some Japanese politicians regarding the depiction of temples and shrines in the game. In a significant political discussion, Japanese politician Hiroyuki Kada brought up Assassin’s Creed Shadows in an official government meeting, to which Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba responded.
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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 it an 8/10, stating, "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."
Amid these developments, reports suggest that Ubisoft's founding Guillemot family and its largest shareholder are exploring discussions with Tencent and other investors about a potential buyout, aiming to maintain control over the company.
