Ubisoft Urges Caution in Comparing Assassin's Creed Shadows Launch to Valhalla's Unique Success

Assassin's Creed Shadows faces intense expectations to revive Ubisoft's fortunes worldwide after multiple delays and the disappointing sales of last year's Star Wars Outlaws. Ubisoft has endured a string of high-profile setbacks, job cuts, studio shutdowns, and project cancellations leading up to the release of Assassin's Creed Shadows.

The situation at Ubisoft has deteriorated to the point where the founding Guillemot family is reportedly in discussions with Chinese giant Tencent and other investors for a buyout that would secure control over the company's intellectual property.

The gaming industry is closely monitoring Assassin's Creed Shadows' initial performance for indicators of its success or failure. While Ubisoft has not disclosed specific sales numbers, it reported that Assassin's Creed Shadows reached 2 million players within two days of launch, outpacing the debuts of both Origins and Odyssey.

Attention is also focused on Shadows' Steam concurrent players, which are being benchmarked against other recent triple-A single-player titles and earlier Assassin's Creed games on Valve's platform.

Over the weekend, Shadows became the most-played Assassin's Creed title ever on Steam, with a peak of 64,825 concurrent players, though it was the first in the series to launch day-one on the platform. By comparison, BioWare's single-player RPG Dragon Age: The Veilguard hit a peak of 89,418 players on Steam.

Without clear insight into Ubisoft's expectations, it's challenging to assess whether Shadows is underperforming, meeting, or surpassing them. However, a source within Ubisoft, citing an internal email reviewed by IGN, has shed light on the game's opening weekend results.

Key findings include: Shadows achieved the second-highest day-one sales revenue in the franchise's history, trailing only 2020's Valhalla, which benefited from cross-generational console releases and pandemic-driven stay-at-home gaming trends.

Shadows also recorded Ubisoft's strongest day-one launch ever on the PlayStation Store, indicating significant success on PS5.

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On PC, where Shadows launched on both Steam and Ubisoft's digital storefront, 27% of the game's total "activations" came from PC players. Ubisoft's internal messaging emphasizes Steam's "significant contribution" to Shadows' PC performance, though exact sales figures remain undisclosed. The company views these early results as "strong evidence" supporting its decision to return to Steam.

Ubisoft is highlighting record-breaking player engagement and "overwhelmingly positive" feedback on moderated, verified platforms, which are less susceptible to review bombing. Shadows was the most-wishlisted Ubisoft game ever and is outperforming all previous Assassin's Creed titles on Twitch, including Valhalla.

Ubisoft's internal email provides perspective on comparing Shadows' launch to other franchise entries. It acknowledges that Shadows is not matching Valhalla's launch success but argues that Valhalla's performance was an outlier due to the "unique circumstances" of the 2020 pandemic, widespread lockdowns, and new console launches.

"Valhalla launched in exceptional circumstances — during a global pandemic, with widespread lockdowns and new console releases," the internal email states. "That was a rare convergence we may never witness again. Comparing Shadows to games like Origins, Odyssey, and Mirage — released in more standard market conditions — offers a fairer perspective. In this context, Shadows is already raising the bar, as shown above."

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Ubisoft noted that Shadows launched in March, deviating from the franchise's traditional pre-Thanksgiving release window, which typically drives higher sales. The company also eliminated the paid early access period common with its titles and made its subscription service available directly on Xbox, complicating sales comparisons across Microsoft's platform.

Ultimately, Assassin's Creed Shadows' revenue will determine its impact on Ubisoft's future, beyond player counts and engagement metrics. A clearer picture may emerge with Ubisoft's next financial report in the coming months.

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