Assassin’s Creed Shadows Breaks Player Records on Steam

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is off to a flying start! The game has reached over two million players in just its first two days after launch, easily outpacing previous entries Origins and Odyssey.

The newest achievement? Shadows just broke the record for the most concurrent players of any Assassin’s Creed game on Steam. According to SteamDB data, the game peaked at 64,825 players this Sunday during its launch weekend.

Keep in mind this doesn’t count players on consoles, other PC launchers, or those playing through Ubisoft+ subscriptions, so the real number is definitely much higher.

The previous record holder was Assassin’s Creed Odyssey with 62,069 concurrent players back in 2017. Other games in the series fall well behind – Origins managed 41,551, Black Flag reached 16,049, Valhalla hit 15,679, and Assassin’s Creed 3 topped out at 15,007.

Getting to this point wasn’t exactly smooth sailing for Shadows. The game faced several delays and even suffered a complete game leak before release. But it seems the extra development time paid off, as the game currently enjoys a “Very Positive” rating on Steam.

This success couldn’t come at a better time for Ubisoft. The company’s latest financial report showed year-on-year revenue down by 31 percent, with Star Wars Outlaws underperforming and XDefiant struggling to compete with Call of Duty.

Gaming industry analysts note that Shadows’ strong debut sets it up well for planned expansions. Ubisoft has already announced the first DLC, “Claws of Awaji,” which will add over 10 hours of new content. How long they’ll support the game likely depends on whether these strong sales continue.

It’s important to note that Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, which broke series sales records in 2020, didn’t arrive on Steam until 2022. This makes direct Steam comparisons a bit tricky.

Still, topping Steam’s best-seller charts and breaking the player count record is exactly the kind of win Ubisoft needed right now. For fans of feudal Japan and stealthy assassins, it seems Shadows was worth the wait.