Assassin’s Creed Shadows has achieved a significant milestone by surpassing 1 million players on its launch day, Ubisoft announced. The game, which hit the shelves on March 20 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S, reached this impressive figure before 4pm in Canada. Ubisoft expressed their gratitude and excitement on social media, stating, "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!"

While reaching 1 million players in a single day is a notable achievement, it's challenging to fully assess the game's success without specific sales figures or targets from Ubisoft. However, Assassin’s Creed Shadows currently holds the top spot on Steam's global sales chart, indicating it is generating more revenue than any other game on the platform at the moment.

On Steam, Assassin’s Creed Shadows achieved a peak concurrent player count of 41,412 on its launch day. Given that the game was released on a Thursday, it's anticipated that these numbers will increase over the weekend. A clearer picture of its performance on Steam will emerge in the coming weeks. It's worth noting that neither Sony nor Microsoft disclose player numbers publicly.

For comparison, BioWare's single-player RPG, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which launched on Steam on October 31, 2024, reached a peak of 70,414 concurrent players on Valve's platform.

The Complete Assassin's Creed Timeline

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Assassin's Creed Shadows faces high expectations following several delays and the disappointing sales of last year's Star Wars Outlaws. Ubisoft has experienced a series of challenges, including high-profile flops, layoffs, studio closures, and game cancellations leading up to the release of Assassin's Creed Shadows.

The game has also been embroiled in controversies, particularly in Japan. IGN reported that Ubisoft released a day-one patch for Assassin’s Creed Shadows addressing concerns raised by some Japanese politicians regarding in-game temples and shrines. In a notable incident, Japanese politician Hiroyuki Kada brought up Assassin’s Creed Shadows during an official government meeting, prompting a response from Japan's Prime Minister, Shigeru Ishiba.

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On Steam, Assassin's Creed Shadows is receiving positive feedback from players, boasting a 'very positive' user review rating with 82% of nearly 4,000 reviews being positive. IGN's review of Assassin’s Creed Shadows awarded it an 8/10, praising the game for refining its open-world mechanics and delivering one of the best experiences in the series to date.

Amidst these developments, reports suggest that Ubisoft's founding Guillemot family and largest shareholder are in discussions with Tencent and other investors about a potential buyout deal that would allow them to retain control of the company.