Don’t Compare Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ Launch to the ‘Perfect Storm’ Valhalla Benefitted From, Ubisoft Internal Email Says, Compare It to Origins, Odyssey, and Mirage

There is enormous pressure on Assassin’s Creed Shadows to do well for Ubisoft globally after a number of delays and the sales failure of last year’s Star Wars Outlaws. Indeed, Ubisoft suffered a number of high-profile flops, layoffs, studio closures, and game cancellations in the run up to Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ release.

Things have got so bad at Ubisoft that its founding Guillemot family is reportedly exploring talks with Chinese mega-corp Tencent and other investors on a buyout deal that would let it preserve control of the company’s intellectual property.

So, the video game world is watching Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ early performance closely for signs of its success — or failure. So far, Ubisoft has yet to announce a sales figure, but has said Assassin’s Creed Shadows hit 2 million players just two days after launch, surpassing the launches of both Origins and Odyssey.

There’s also a lot of attention on Shadows’ Steam concurrents, which are being compared to those of other triple-A single-player games that recently released, as well as previous Assassin’s Creed games on Valve’s platform.

Shadows became the most-played Assassin’s Creed game ever on Steam over the weekend with 64,825 peak concurrent players, although it’s worth noting that it was the first game in the series to launch day-one there. BioWare’s single-player RPG Dragon Age: The Veilguard saw a peak of 89,418 players on Valve’s platform.

It’s hard to make a call on whether Shadows is below, meeting, or exceeding Ubisoft’s expectations without knowing what those expectations were. But a source from within Ubisoft, who revealed an internal email reviewed by IGN, has helped us better understand the game’s first weekend performance.

Here’s what we’ve found out: Shadows delivered the second-highest day-one sales revenue in the franchise’s history, behind only 2020’s Valhalla, which launched across the last and current generation of consoles and benefited from stay-at-home gaming fueled by the pandemic.

Shadows also marked Ubisoft’s best ever day-one launch on the PlayStation Store, suggesting particular success on PS5.

But what about PC, given Shadows launched on Steam as well as Ubisoft’s own digital store? According to Ubisoft’s internal communication, 27% of Shadows’ total “activations” were on PC. Ubisoft is telling employees that Steam “played a major role” in Shadows’ performance on PC, without revealing exact sell-through numbers. It says early results “are a strong validation of our decision to return to the platform.”

Generally, Ubisoft is talking up player engagement, which is at “record levels,” and “feedback across moderated, verified platforms — those less affected by review bombing — remains incredibly positive.” Shadows was also the most-wishlisted Ubisoft game of all time, and it’s doing better than any other Assassin’s Creed game on Twitch, even Valhalla.

It’s here that Ubisoft’s internal communication provides context on comparisons between Shadows’ launch and other games in the franchise. What’s clear is that Shadows is not doing as well as Valhalla did at launch, but Ubisoft is saying it’s not fair to compare the two, because Valhalla benefitted from the “perfect storm” of pandemic-fueled stay-at-home gaming and the launch of the Xbox Series X and S and PlayStation 5 in 2020.

“Valhalla launched under extraordinary conditions — in the middle of a global pandemic, with widespread lockdowns and brand-new console hardware,” the internal 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.”

Ubisoft also pointed out that Shadows released in March. Historically, Assassin’s Creed games launch just ahead of the U.S. Thanksgiving window, which typically boosts sales. Meanwhile, Ubisoft ditched the early access period it normally charges extra for with its games. It’s also worth noting that Ubisoft’s own subscription offering is now available directly on Xbox, which affects sales on Microsoft’s console and muddies sales comparisons.

Money talks, of course, and irrespective of player numbers and engagement, it will be revenue brought in by Assassin’s Creed Shadows that determines the fate of not just the game, but Ubisoft itself. We may not get a clear picture of that until Ubisoft’s next financial report in the coming months.

Adventuring across feudal Japan? Check out our comprehensive Assassin’s Creed Shadows guide, including our Assassin’s Creed Shadows walkthrough, our detailed Assassin’s Creed Shadows Interactive Map, and our guide to all the crucial things Assassin’s Creed Shadows doesn’t tell you.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.