The pressure is immense on Assassin's Creed Shadows to perform exceptionally well for Ubisoft, especially following the delays and the disappointing sales of last year's Star Wars Outlaws. Ubisoft has faced a series of setbacks including high-profile flops, layoffs, studio closures, and game cancellations leading up to the release of Assassin's Creed Shadows.

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

The gaming community is closely monitoring the early performance of Assassin’s Creed Shadows to gauge its success or failure. Although Ubisoft has not released official sales figures, they announced that the game reached 2 million players within just two days of its launch, surpassing the initial performance of both Origins and Odyssey.

Attention is also focused on Shadows' concurrent player numbers on Steam, which are being benchmarked against other recent triple-A single-player releases and previous Assassin's Creed titles on the platform. Over the weekend, Shadows achieved the highest peak concurrent players for any Assassin's Creed game on Steam, with 64,825 players, although it was the first to launch day-one on the platform. For comparison, Dragon Age: The Veilguard from BioWare reached a peak of 89,418 players.

Without knowing Ubisoft's specific expectations, it's challenging to determine if Shadows is underperforming, meeting, or exceeding them. However, insights from an internal Ubisoft email, as shared by a source and reviewed by IGN, provide a clearer picture of the game's first weekend performance.

According to the internal communications, Shadows achieved the second-highest day-one sales revenue in the franchise's history, only surpassed by Valhalla in 2020, which benefited from the stay-at-home gaming trend during the pandemic and launched across multiple console generations. Shadows also set a 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 launched on both Steam and Ubisoft's digital store, 27% of the total "activations" were on PC. Ubisoft credits Steam with playing a "major role" in the game's PC performance, though specific sell-through numbers remain undisclosed. Ubisoft's internal communications emphasize that the early results "are a strong validation of our decision to return to the platform."

Ubisoft is also highlighting player engagement, which is at "record levels," and "feedback across moderated, verified platforms — those less affected by review bombing — remains incredibly positive." Shadows was the most-wishlisted Ubisoft game ever and is outperforming other Assassin's Creed titles on Twitch, including Valhalla.

The internal communication provides context for comparisons with other games in the franchise. While Shadows is not doing as well as Valhalla did at launch, Ubisoft argues that comparing the two is unfair due to Valhalla's launch during the "perfect storm" of the pandemic and new console releases. "Valhalla launched under extraordinary conditions — in the middle of a global pandemic, with widespread lockdowns and brand-new console hardware," the internal communication reads. "It was a perfect storm we may never see again. That’s why it’s more meaningful to compare Shadows to entries like Origins, Odyssey, and Mirage — games released in more typical cycles. And in that frame, Shadows is already setting a new bar as illustrated above."

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See your ResultsFinish playing for your personal results or see the community’s!Continue playingSee resultsUbisoft also pointed out that Shadows released in March. Historically, Assassin’s Creed games launch just ahead of the U.S. Thanksgiving window, which typically boosts sales. Meanwhile, Ubisoft ditched the early access period it normally charges extra for with its games. It’s also worth noting that Ubisoft’s own subscription offering is now available directly on Xbox, which affects sales on Microsoft’s console and muddies sales comparisons.

Ultimately, the revenue generated by Assassin's Creed Shadows will be the decisive factor not only for the game but for Ubisoft's future. We might not have a clear picture of this until Ubisoft's next financial report in the coming months.

Embarking on a journey through feudal Japan? Explore 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.