Ubisoft announced that Assassin’s Creed Shadows surpassed 1 million players on its launch day, March 20. The game, available on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S, reached this milestone before 4pm in Canada. Ubisoft expressed their gratitude on social media, 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 reaching 1 million players on launch day 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 on Steam globally, based on Valve's revenue chart. On its launch day, the game also achieved a peak concurrent player count of 41,412 on Steam. Given that it was released on a Thursday, it's anticipated that these numbers will increase over the 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, reached a peak of 70,414 players on the platform.
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There is significant pressure on Assassin's Creed Shadows to perform well globally for Ubisoft, especially following delays and the commercial disappointment of last year's Star Wars Outlaws. Ubisoft has faced several challenges recently, including high-profile flops, layoffs, studio closures, and game cancellations leading up to the release of Assassin's Creed Shadows.
The game has also been at the center of various controversies, particularly in Japan. IGN reported that Ubisoft released a day-one patch for Assassin’s Creed Shadows addressing concerns from some Japanese politicians about in-game representations of temples and shrines. In a notable incident, Japanese politician Hiroyuki Kada raised the issue 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 from players, boasting a 'very positive' user review rating with 82% of nearly 4,000 reviews being positive. IGN's review of the game awarded it an 8/10, praising it as "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 Chinese mega-corp Tencent and other investors about a potential buyout deal that would allow them to retain control.
