Despite touting the likes of three million players in one week and “second-highest day one sales revenue in Assassin’s Creed franchise history,” Ubisoft has played coy with the actual sales numbers for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, instead, focusing on the number of “players.” Since the player count also includes players who picked it up via a subscription to Ubisoft+, this had led to speculation that the game didn’t perform quite how Ubisoft wanted it to.
However with the release of its latest financial results, Ubisoft says “the Assassin’s Creed franchise exceeded our expectations” and has been “overperforming.” Ubisoft says, “In the year to date, Assassin’s Creed has generated 211 million session days, ~35% higher than the last two years’ Average.” Ubisoft also notes that Assassin’s Creed “Shadows benefitted from the launch of the New Game+ mode, which was widely anticipated by the community.”
Looking forward, Ubisoft reckons “Assassin’s Creed Shadows will reach a broader audience with its launch on the Nintendo Switch 2” which is set to arrive on the platform at the beginning of next month. The company also noted that the Valley of Memory update for Assassin’s Creed Mirage gave the game a massive boost, “doubling” player activity and “enabling the game to reach the 10 million player mark.”
Dickwads had a hate boner for it, but it was a great game and I enjoyed it, as I’m sure many other AC and action RPG fans did.
Glad so many ignored the assholes
We know that Shadows was 2nd bestselling game in the US before Ubisoft stopped reporting and Circana didn’t mention it again and removed it from the list, likely at Ubisofts request.
So, we have a general idea that it’s likely in the top 10 bestselling games this year.
Surprise! I mean, I wasn’t, but people assumed the controversy around the game would have an effect. It didn’t, because the game is amazing.
Shadows is great. I wish they had done a little bit more with the Isu aspect of the story, but on the other hand, after Valhalla arguably did too much with it, it’s also nice to have a more grounded story.
My personal rankings/ratings for the Assassin’s Creed games that I have completed.
- Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag - 9.5/10
- Assassin’s Creed Origins - 9.5/10
- Assassin’s Creed Odyssey - 9.5/10
- Assassin’s Creed Rogue - 9.0/10
- Assassin’s Creed Shadows - 8.5/10
- Assassin’s Creed Syndicate - 8.0/10
- Assassin’s Creed Valhalla - 8.0/10
- Assassin’s Creed Unity - 7.0/10
- Assassin’s Creed Mirage - 7.0/10
- Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation HD - 7.0/10
Black Flag is my favorite because it’s the game that made me a fan of the franchise. The tropical setting and ship combat sold me on the game to where I pre-ordered the game and season pass weeks before the game released. I was all in. Absolutely loved Black Flag!!
Origins/Odyssey can go either way but I prefer Origins because of the setting/time period, no dialogue choices and that there’s no random created quests (think the quests in Odyssey on the ship that keep repeating). With that said, I still love Odyssey. It’s right there with Origins but if I had to choose one over the other, it would be Origins.
Rogue is Black Flag in winter and I loved it. Loved playing as a Templar instead of an assassin even though I do wish the main story was a lot longer.
Shadows is in the middle. Looks amazing. Audio was good. I liked all the characters and the main story but wasn’t a fan of the combat/gameplay. Just wasn’t into it. I didn’t like the two characters from a gameplay/combat perspective because you’re restricted and limited when using either of them. Yasuke can’t do stealth or parkour while Naoe doesn’t get a bow/arrow weapon. I think it plays better than Valhalla when using either character but more so Naoe because she just feels like the better fit of an Assassin. Overall, great game and while I will play through the expansion at some point that recently released, I hope the studio moves on to their next new AC game especially since the Black Flag remake and AC Hexe look likely to release in 2026.
Syndicate was great. Biggest negative were the visuals especially after Unity but the game was so damn good. Loved the combat with Evie (barely played as Jacob) and really enjoyed the structure and gameplay loop. Story/characters were also really good.
Valhalla was great in regards to the story/characters but absolutely hated the combat/gameplay, the structure and the loop. Visuals, story/characters and the audio carry the game. Also, it’s too fucking massive.
Unity was impressive from a visual/animation/crowd standpoint but the game was a technical mess at launch and took months to be fixed and had to give away Dead Kings free to everyone. Story/characters was solid but I hated the gameplay/combat because some of the best content is locked behind co-op as you can’t complete it solo and even if you pull it off, it’s way too aggravating and frustrating. Didn’t like that it had a cover system or Last Known Position like Splinter Cell Conviction/Blacklist.
Mirage is perfect for those who prefer the old school AC style. I prefer the AC Origins/Odyssey style. I loved Black Flag but that was years before Origins/Odyssey. In 2023 when I played through Mirage, I wasn’t into the gameplay/combat as it’s too old, outdated, slow and obsolete to me. Instead of progressing, going backwards is regression in my opinion. I enjoyed the location. I like Basim and enjoyed the story/characters for the most part. Just not into it anymore.
Liberation was good for what it was. It was originally a Vita game if I remember correctly. It was solid 7.0/10. Nothing really bad but nothing great either.
With all of that said, im very much looking forward to the Black Flag remake and hoping Ubisoft doesn’t screw it up and Hexe which is supposed to be that “dark” AC title rumored for Fall 2026.