Assessing the Assassin’s Creed Shadows launch in its latest financial report, Ubisoft says the latest installment in the stealth-stabby franchise “has clearly outperformed Assassin’s Creed Odyssey” by two key metrics.
Shadows beat the Steam launch for Valhalla within a day, but ultimately trailed behind the viking rendition of Assassin’s Creed overall. Ubisoft called Valhalla’s launch a “perfect storm we may never see again,” and its new report affirms that Shadows generated “the second-highest Day 1 sales revenue in franchise history—second only to Assassin’s Creed® Valhalla.”
To date, consumer spending for Shadows exceeds Odyssey, long held up as the epitome of what modern Assassin’s Creed games have become (though some fans swear by Origins), “with the player count also outperforming.”
“Players have logged 160 million hours in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, underscoring its engaging gameplay and the enduring appeal of the franchise,” Ubisoft adds.
Later in the report, Ubisoft reflects on its decision to delay Assassin’s Creed Shadows in the final stretch despite the fiscal hopes riding on it. “This decision has already been beneficial to the quality of Assassin’s Creed Shadows,” the company believes.
As our own Andrew Brown put it: If Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ delay means lessons have been learned from Star Wars Outlaws, I say: let Ubisoft cook.
Ubisoft says the team mostly focused on polish in the final stages, though there were “a couple bits of narrative here and there.”
Through all of this business lingo, it’s important to remember that Shadows is a good game, too. Our Assassin’s Creed Shadows review praised “more confidence, texture, and purpose” than we’ve seen from Ubisoft in years, and the game’s Steam reviews are holding at a “very positive” 80%. (Funnily enough, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is beating Shadows on Metacritic by a few points.)
The most recent Assassin’s Creed Shadows update snuck in some parkour improvements ahead of a larger update coming later.
The broader Assassin’s Creed Shadows roadmap includes a special collaboration, new story and difficulty additions, and a lot more still to come.