Assassin’s Creed Shadows praised as ‘best in a long time’ as sales hit 1,000,000
Ubisoft's decision to delay Assassin's Creed Shadows appears to have paid off, as the Japanese themed entry hits a major sales milestone within 24 hours.
Ubisoft’s decision to delay Assassin’s Creed Shadows appears to have paid off, as the Japanese themed entry hits a major sales milestone within 24 hours.
The lead-up to Assassin’s Creed Shadows was filled with overblown controversies, troubling delays, and the weight of Ubisoft’s future thrusted upon it, but it seems like it has emerged out the other side in relatively good shape.
The setting of feudal Japan features two protagonists, with shinobi Naoe and samurai Yasuke, as they navigate turbulent clan wars during the Sengoku period. The game has been been met with largely positive reviews, and currently hold an 81 score on review aggregate site Metacritic.
And now, less than 24 hours after Assassin’s Creed Shadows launched on March 20, Ubisoft has announced that it’s already surpassed one million players across PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox Series X/S.
The vast majority of these players appear to be on console, where it’s more difficult to track exact numbers.
However, according to SteamDB, Assassin’s Creed Shadows hit an all-time peak of 41,412 players on launch day, and while that may seem low in comparison to the likes of Monster Hunter Wilds and GTA 5, it’s largely in step with past Assassin’s Creed games.
At the moment, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is just behind Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (62,069) and Assassin’s Creed Origins (41,551) in terms of the series’ highest peak on Steam, but there’s a strong chance it’ll surpass both of those over the weekend.
The game has been met with largely positive reviews from fans, particularly for its visuals. ‘I am nine hours into Assassin’s Creed Shadows, and it’s definitely the best RPG Assassin’s Creed,’ wrote EliteGamer04 on X.
‘Both Naoe and Yasuke are fun to play, this game looks quite great on my base PlayStation 5, and it’s definitely the most challenging in terms of combat.’
It's not even 4PM here in Canada and Assassin's Creed Shadows has already passed 1 million players!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! ???? Assassin's Creed (@assassinscreed) March 20, 2025
Casual Gamer Doc added: ‘Assassin’s Creed Shadows is definitely worth playing. The game is absolutely a standout graphically. Best Assassin’s Creed game in a long time.’
Users on Reddit have sung its praises too, at least in regards to the opening hours. ‘Shadows probably has the best opening to an Assassin’s Creed game since Odyssey, and the cut scenes themselves so far have been stellar,’ writes DanielG165.
It remains to be seen if this enthusiasm will continue in the weeks to come, but for now at least, it seems like Assassin’s Creed Shadows has largely confounded the cynicism around it.
The big question moving forward is how it will impact Ubisoft’s future. After a string of titles failed to meet financial expectations, including Star Wars Outlaws and XDefiant, the company is apparently considering a buyout with Tencent, or shifting its IP to an entirely new entity.
The continued success, or lack thereof, for Assassin’s Creed Shadows will have large part to play in how all that shakes out.
Feudal Japan looks pretty wonderful (Ubisoft)Email [email protected], leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter.
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