"Assassin’s Creed Shadows Hits 1 Million Players on Launch Day: Ubisoft"

Assassin’s Creed Shadows has achieved a remarkable feat, amassing over 1 million players on its launch day, as announced by Ubisoft. Released on March 20 across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S, the game quickly 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 is a significant achievement, it's challenging to fully assess the game's success without specific sales figures or targets from Ubisoft. However, it's clear that Assassin’s Creed Shadows is performing exceptionally well on Steam, currently topping the global sales chart. Valve’s revenue-based rankings indicate that Ubisoft's latest release is generating more revenue than any other game on the platform.

On its launch day, Assassin’s Creed Shadows also achieved a peak concurrent player count of 41,412 on Steam. Given its Thursday release, it's anticipated that this number will increase over the weekend, providing a clearer picture of its performance in the coming weeks. For comparison, BioWare’s single-player RPG, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, launched on October 31, 2024, and reached a peak of 70,414 players on Steam.

The Complete Assassin's Creed Timeline

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The success of Assassin's Creed Shadows is crucial for Ubisoft, especially after facing numerous challenges, including delays and the commercial disappointment of last year’s Star Wars Outlaws. The company has also experienced high-profile flops, layoffs, studio closures, and game cancellations leading up to this release.

The game has not been without controversy, 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. This issue was even discussed in an official government meeting between Japanese politician Hiroyuki Kada and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

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 scored 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, there are reports that Ubisoft’s founding Guillemot family and largest shareholder are in discussions with Tencent and other investors about a potential buyout deal that would allow them to maintain control of the company.