Earlier today, Ubisoft proudly revealed that Assassin's Creed Shadows has already reached two million players, surpassing the launch of Origins and Odyssey. On release day, the game had broken the milestone of one million copies sold.
It is undoubtedly a strong start, which the publisher absolutely needed after all the financial disappointments of the last couple of years, between Skull and Bones, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, and Star Wars Outlaws, just to name a few. As you already know if you're an avid Wccftech reader, there are strong rumors that the Guillemot brothers, who own the biggest stake in the company, are reportedly seeking investors to create a new entity that would control Ubisoft's largest franchises, starting with Assassin's Creed. A healthy debut for Shadows will most likely help in that regard.
Still, it's too early to tell how successful the game will really end up being. The split between platforms will also be interesting to analyze. The game marks Ubisoft's return to big day-one releases on Valve's Steam, the largest PC platform. So far, the concurrent player peak is fairly low (60K), but PC gamers have been used to having to buy the publisher's titles via Ubisoft Connect or the Epic Games Store. It's hard to infer much from this relatively low figure; the PC platform could still make up a sizable portion of that two million user base.
In Wccftech's review, Francesco De Meo rated the game 8.7, largely praising Ubisoft Quebec's efforts and the publisher's decision to delay the game:
Assassin's Creed Shadows is one of the finest entries in the series, successfully bringing back stealth-oriented gameplay while retaining the RPG mechanics and refined combat mechanics seen in previous entries in the series, seamlessly integrating them with the dual protagonist setup and a well-paced story that doesn't overstay its welcome. While the game still features way more content and gameplay systems than necessary, its rendition of Feudal Japan is among the best ever seen in a video game, and it is well worth experiencing for the vast majority of players.
