
Assassin’s Creed Shadows Launches to Over One Million Players
After a prolonged anticipation filled with delays, Assassin’s Creed Shadows made its debut, providing players with an immersive open-world RPG set in feudal Japan. Remarkably, within just hours of its launch, Ubisoft announced that the game had attracted over one million players.
Milestone Achieved
This significant achievement was shared by Ubisoft Quebec on social media, where the team expressed their gratitude towards the gaming community.“It’s not even 4 PM here in Canada, and Assassin’s Creed Shadows has already surpassed 1 million players, ” the post highlighted. In a show of appreciation, they also distributed free game codes to fans, stating, “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!”
Impressive Concurrent Player Numbers
On its launch day, Assassin’s Creed Shadows continued to demonstrate strong player engagement, reaching a peak of 41, 412 concurrent players on Steam, as reported by SteamDB. This launch marks the first time in several years that an Assassin’s Creed game has been available as a day-one release on Steam, and if this momentum continues, Shadows could break the franchise’s record of 62, 069 peak concurrent players set by Assassin’s Creed Odyssey this very weekend.
User Reception and Server Challenges
Initial reviews on Steam have been largely positive, with an impressive 81% rating classified as ‘Very Positive’ by users. However, some dissatisfaction has emerged due to reported server issues impacting gameplay, which predominantly stem from Ubisoft’s online infrastructure.
Understanding the Player Count
Interestingly, Ubisoft’s announcement regarding player counts likely includes those accessing the game through Ubisoft+, their subscription service priced at $17.99. This plan grants subscribers full access to Assassin’s Creed Shadows and a host of other Ubisoft titles and DLCs. The company is expected to provide further insights on the game’s performance during upcoming investor calls later this year.
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! 💝 pic.twitter.com/1cqwABrQfN
— Assassin’s Creed (@assassinscreed) March 20, 2025
New Features and Cultural Considerations
This launch also introduces a dual protagonist narrative structure, reminiscent of the feature found in Assassin’s Creed Syndicate from 2015. However, this decision has spurred some debate within the community, alongside various issues that have emerged in recent months. Additionally, a day-one patch released today has restricted certain interactions in game shrines, following advisories from the Japanese government.
Availability
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is accessible across multiple platforms, including PC (Steam, Ubisoft Connect, Epic Games Store), Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Apple Silicon Macs, and Amazon Luna.
For further details, you can check out the full report.
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