Assassin's Creed Shadows Tops 1M Launch Day 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 and S on March 20. Just before 4 p.m. in Canada, Ubisoft shared on social media that it had surpassed the one million player milestone.

“It's not even 4 p.m. here in Canada, and Assassin's Creed Shadows has already passed one million players!” Ubisoft stated.

“We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for joining this adventure in Feudal Japan. We couldn’t be more excited to begin this journey with you!”

While reaching one million players on launch day is a remarkable achievement, it's challenging to assess overall success without official sales figures or targets from Ubisoft.

What we do know is that Assassin’s Creed Shadows is currently the top-selling video game globally on Steam. Valve’s ranking is based on revenue, confirming that Ubisoft’s title is generating more income than any other game on the platform at the moment.

Early Steam concurrent player figures are also available. According to Valve's official statistics, Assassin’s Creed Shadows reached a peak concurrent player count of 41,412 on Steam during its launch day. Since the game launched on a Thursday, that number is anticipated to grow over its first weekend. A clearer picture of its Steam performance will emerge in the coming weeks. Neither Sony nor Microsoft share player numbers publicly.

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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There is significant pressure on Assassin's Creed Shadows to succeed globally for Ubisoft, especially following multiple delays and the commercial disappointment of last year’s Star Wars Outlaws. The company has also faced a series of high-profile failures, layoffs, studio closures, and game cancellations leading up to this release.

Assassin's Creed Shadows has also encountered several controversies, particularly in Japan. Recently, IGN confirmed that Ubisoft quietly deployed a day-one patch for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, making several key adjustments that appear to address concerns from Japanese politicians regarding in-game temples and shrines.

In a notable exchange this week, Japanese politician and member of the House of Councillors, Hiroyuki Kada, raised the issue of Assassin’s Creed Shadows in an official government meeting, with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba providing a response.

At least on Steam, Assassin's Creed Shadows is receiving a strong response from players. It holds a 'Very Positive' user review rating, with 82% of nearly 4,000 reviews being positive. IGN’s review scored the game 8/10, stating: “By refining its established systems, Assassin’s Creed Shadows delivers one of the finest iterations of the open-world formula it has been perfecting over the past decade.”

It has been reported that Ubisoft’s founding Guillemot family, the company’s largest shareholder, is exploring discussions with Chinese tech giant Tencent and other investors regarding a potential buyout deal that would enable them to retain control.