Summary
- Ubsioft is reportedly incredibly pleased with Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
- Shadows is a “new bar” for Assassin’s Creed, if you discount Valhalla’s proposterous success.
- Valhalla launched during a “perfect storm”, making it less useful for comparative purposes.
It wasn’t an easy start for Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Two successive delays and several controversies had a lot of people skeptical about the latest entry in Ubisoft’s storied series. However, almost a week since the game released, Shadows has proven a massive success for Ubisoft.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is the second-most successful ever Assassin’s Creed game, only surpassed by Valhalla. According to an internal email seen by IGN, Ubisoft isn’t comparing the launch to Valhalla, which launched during the pandemic and consequent gaming boom.
A New Bar For Assassin’s Creed
An Assassin’s Creed Shadows promo screenshot featuring a close-up of Naoe wearing a hood.
“Valhalla launched under extraordinary conditions — in the middle of a global pandemic, with widespread lockdowns and brand-new console hardware,” the 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.”
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla proved extremely popular because of the lockdowns enforced by the COVID-19 pandemic, in combination with the game essentially being a launch title for the current generation of consoles. The majority of Assassin’s Creed players are on console, so the release of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in 2020 proved fortuitous for the commercial success of Valhalla.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows achieved a peak concurrent player count of over 64,000, the highest number ever achieved by the series on the platform. It may not seem particularly impressive – but only 27 per cent of Shadows’ “activations” were on PC, reflecting the millions of players who are playing on console.
Ubisoft is also satisfied with other aspects of the launch besides sales. According to the same internal communications, Shadows has “record levels” of player engagement and feedback. The feedback is broadly positive, despite some of the setbacks the game faced prior to launch and the bad-faith actors engaging in review bombing.
In his 4/5 review, our own George Foster said Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ “brave approach to exploration”, “heartfelt personal stories” and “satisfying tweaks to the formula” made it one of his “favourite entries yet.”
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is currently available on PC, Xbox Series X/S and Steam.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows
- Released
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March 20, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language