Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Shadows Tops 1M Players

Ubisoft announced that Assassin’s Creed Shadows attracted over one million players on its launch day.

The game launched on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S on March 20th. Shortly before 4:00 PM local time in Canada, Ubisoft shared on social media that the title had already surpassed the one-million-player milestone.

"It's not even 4:00 PM here in Canada, and Assassin's Creed Shadows has already passed one million players!" Ubisoft stated.

"From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for joining this adventure in Feudal Japan. We are thrilled to begin this journey with you!"

While reaching one million players on day one is a notable accomplishment, it's challenging to assess its overall success without an official sales figure or target from Ubisoft.

What is clear is that Assassin’s Creed Shadows is currently the top-selling video game globally on Steam. Valve's ranking is based on revenue, indicating that Ubisoft's latest release is generating more income on the platform than any other title at the moment.

We also have early concurrent player data from Steam. According to Valve's official statistics, Assassin’s Creed Shadows reached a peak of 41,412 simultaneous players on Steam during its launch day. Since the game launched on a Thursday, this number is expected to grow over its first weekend. A clearer picture of its Steam performance will emerge in the coming weeks. Neither Sony nor Microsoft publicly share player counts for their platforms.

For context, BioWare's single-player RPG, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, launched on Steam on October 31, 2024, and achieved a peak of 70,414 concurrent players.

The Complete Assassin's Creed Timeline

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Assassin's Creed Shadows faces significant pressure to succeed globally for Ubisoft, following multiple delays and the commercial disappointment of last year's Star Wars Outlaws. Leading up to this release, Ubisoft has experienced several high-profile failures, layoffs, studio closures, and game cancellations.

The launch of Assassin's Creed Shadows has also been accompanied by several controversies, particularly in Japan. IGN recently confirmed that Ubisoft quietly released a day-one patch that implemented a number of significant changes, seemingly in response to concerns raised by Japanese politicians regarding the depiction of in-game temples and shrines.

In a notable exchange this week, Japanese politician and member of the House of Councillors, Hiroyuki Kada, brought up Assassin’s Creed Shadows during an official government meeting, prompting a response from Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

On Steam, at least, Assassin's Creed Shadows is being very well-received by players. It has earned a 'Very Positive' user review rating, with 82% of nearly 4,000 reviews marked as positive. IGN's review scored the game 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 formula it has been honing for the last decade."

Meanwhile, Ubisoft's founding Guillemot family, who are also the company's largest shareholders, are reportedly in talks with Chinese conglomerate Tencent and other potential investors regarding a buyout deal that would allow them to retain control.