Assassin’s Creed: Shadows is going for the win. Game’s release did better than AC: Valhalla, the series’ most profitable installment

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Ubisoft might be feeling rather proud – Assassin’s Creed: Shadows managed to draw in over 2 million players within the first three days of its launch, placing it among the most successful debuts for the series. This game outshines both Assassin’s Creed: Origins and Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey in terms of initial performance. The game is rapidly growing its player base on Steam, with the number of simultaneous players approaching the peak set by Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (61,984 players), a record that was surpassed just a few hours after this news broke. Currently, Assassin’s Creed: Shadows stands at 60,086 concurrent players, which is very close to beating the previous record. (via SteamDB)

How does Shadows compare to Valhalla?

It’s challenging to compare the launch of Shadows with Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, given that Ubisoft didn’t disclose specific player numbers in the early days following the release of the latter. However, according to an official statement from November 2020, Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla set a record for the series by having the strongest debut. On its release day, the number of players was approximately double that of Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey.

Ubisoft also shared an interesting statistic about Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla. Within a week of its launch, around 1.8 million players accepted a drunken challenge within the game. Since this first challenge is available at the start of the game, it seems that this number represents the initial wave of users who played Valhalla in its first week. This indicates that Assassin’s Creed: Shadows could potentially see an even larger player base upon its release, with approximately 2 million players joining within just the first three days.

Financial results and records of Valhalla

Valhalla, the latest installment of the series, made a powerful debut and went on to be the most financially successful game in the franchise. Just two months after its release, it set a record for highest earnings within the brand, and Ubisoft confirmed in February 2022 that the game had surpassed one billion dollars in revenue (as reported by Eurogamer). The success was not only attributed to the base game but also to the extensive post-release support, which encompassed story expansions and various cosmetic packs.

Ubisoft is likely banking on Assassin’s Creed: Shadows to keep up its momentum and secure success, helping to alleviate the company’s challenging market position. The game appears to be free from the technical problems that have hindered the series in the past, and early feedback from both players and critics has been generally positive, even amidst the title’s considerable controversy (Steam shows 81% positive reviews out of over 7200 submitted). However, concerns linger about the game’s long-term support model and Ubisoft’s widely criticized monetization strategy, which could potentially influence opinions about the game in the future (the Claws of Awaji story expansion is yet to be released).

As an avid gamer, I’m excitedly anticipating that Shadows might mirror or even eclipse the triumph of Valhalla in terms of popularity. The coming months will unveil whether Ubisoft has truly struck gold again with a new financial success on par with its most lucrative Assassin’s Creed, or if we should reserve judgment until the game is fully released and its success can be confirmed.

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2025-03-24 14:36