Assassin’s Creed Shadows has gathered over 1 million players within mere hours of its release. Ubisoft shared this news on social media shortly after the game’s worldwide launch.
“It’s not even 4PM here in Canada and Assassin’s Creed Shadows has already passed 1 million players,” Ubisoft tweeted. “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!”
The game is making waves on Steam too, where it reached an impressive 41,412 concurrent players on day one, according to SteamDB. That’s a huge jump compared to previous titles – Assassin’s Creed Valhalla topped out at 15,679 players, while Mirage only reached 7,870 at their peaks.
One factor that might be helping Shadows’ strong start is that unlike some earlier games in the series, it launched on Steam right away and came with Steam Deck compatibility from day one.
The new game is currently running neck-and-neck with Assassin’s Creed Origins (which hit 41,551 players at its peak) but still has some catching up to do before it matches Odyssey’s record of 62,069 concurrent players. With the weekend coming up, though, Shadows could see its numbers climb even higher as more players jump in.
Players seem to be enjoying their time in feudal Japan so far, with the game maintaining a “Very Positive” rating on Steam. Critics are fans too, with some reviews giving it a solid 9/10. It’s earned an impressive 81 score on Metacritic, aligning with most AC titles.
It’s worth noting that when Ubisoft mentions “1 million players,” they’re counting everyone playing the game, including those accessing it through their Ubisoft Plus subscription service ($18/month) on PC, Xbox, and Amazon Luna – not just direct sales (at $70 for the standard edition).
While Ubisoft previously claimed that Assassin’s Creed Valhalla had the biggest launch in series history back in 2020 (which eventually sold over 10 million copies lifetime), they didn’t share specific numbers then, making it tricky to compare the two directly.
Analyst estimates suggest Shadows needs 5-7 million sales to break even, given its likely $200 million+ budget, and 10 million or more to be a clear success.
Hitting 1 million players this fast is a promising sign, but it’s too early to call it a definitive win—sustained sales and player retention will be key.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is now available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
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