Assassin’s Creed Shadows Hits 3 Million Players in Just One Week

Ubisoft has announced that Assassin’s Creed Shadows has officially crossed 3 million players within a week of its launch on May 20. This milestone follows an earlier report of 2 million players within its first two days.

Compared to previous titles, Shadows has outperformed Assassin’s Creed Origins and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey in both sales and viewership numbers.

Ubisoft also confirmed that Shadows had the second-highest day-one sales revenue in franchise history, right behind Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.

It also broke Ubisoft’s record for the biggest day-one sales ever on the PlayStation Store. So far, players have logged more than 40 million hours in the game.

This success couldn’t have come at a better time for Ubisoft, which has been struggling with delays, underwhelming sales, layoffs, and even studio closures. Last year’s Star Wars Outlaws didn’t perform as expected, which put even more pressure on Assassin’s Creed Shadows to deliver.

Another big highlight is Shadows’ performance on Steam. It peaked at 64,825 concurrent players, making it the most-played Assassin’s Creed game ever on the platform at launch. However, it’s worth keeping in mind that this is the first Assassin’s Creed game to launch on day one on Steam. For comparison, BioWare’s RPG Dragon Age: The Veilguard recently peaked at 89,418 concurrent players on Steam.

Despite the strong numbers, it’s still unclear whether Assassin’s Creed Shadows is fully meeting Ubisoft’s expectations. Player count (which includes Ubisoft+ Subscribers also) is one thing, but revenue is what really matters in the long run. A clearer picture should emerge once Ubisoft releases its next financial report in the coming months.

In a related development, the company is spinning off a new subsidiary focused on its biggest franchises, including Assassin’s Creed, Rainbow Six, and Far Cry. Tencent has taken a 25% stake in this new entity, giving the Chinese gaming giant some influence over future Assassin’s Creed projects. The deal is still awaiting regulatory approval, so its full impact on upcoming games remains to be seen.

With Assassin’s Creed Shadows off to such a strong start, all eyes are on Ubisoft to see if it can keep up the momentum.