Ubisoft's latest release, *Assassin's Creed Shadows*, has made a remarkable impact on its launch day, surpassing 1 million players by early afternoon in Canada. The game, which hit the shelves on March 20 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S, saw Ubisoft take to social media to celebrate this milestone. "It's not even 4pm here in Canada and Assassin's Creed Shadows has already passed 1 million players!" they announced, expressing heartfelt gratitude to the community for embarking on this adventure set in Feudal Japan.
While reaching 1 million players in a single day is undoubtedly impressive, gauging the game's overall success remains challenging without concrete sales figures or targets from Ubisoft. However, *Assassin's Creed Shadows* has quickly climbed to the top of the global sales charts on Steam, indicating strong revenue performance compared to other titles on Valve's platform.
On Steam, *Assassin's Creed Shadows* achieved a peak concurrent player count of 41,412 on its launch day. Given that it was released on a Thursday, this number is expected to rise over the weekend. A clearer picture of its performance on Steam will emerge in the coming weeks. It's worth noting that neither Sony nor Microsoft disclose player numbers for their platforms.
For comparison, BioWare's *Dragon Age: The Veilguard*, which launched on Steam on October 31, 2024, saw a peak of 70,412 players.
The Complete Assassin's Creed Timeline
25 Images
The success of *Assassin's Creed Shadows* is crucial for Ubisoft, especially after facing multiple challenges including delays, the sales disappointment of *Star Wars Outlaws*, high-profile flops, layoffs, studio closures, and game cancellations.
The game has also been at the center of several controversies, particularly in Japan. Ubisoft released a day-one patch for *Assassin's Creed Shadows* to address concerns from some Japanese politicians regarding the depiction of in-game temples and shrines. This issue was even raised in an official government meeting, drawing a response from Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
Assassin's Creed Shadows - Early Skills Tier List
Assassin's Creed Shadows - Early Skills Tier List
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 of the game awarded it 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, reports suggest that Ubisoft's founding Guillemot family and largest shareholder are in discussions with Tencent and other investors about a potential buyout that would allow them to retain control of the company.
