Assassin’s Creed Shadows has proven a huge hit physically in the UK, shifting more copies in one week than fellow Ubisoft game Star Wars: Outlaws managed in three months.
While Shadows’ physical sales remained around the same as those of Assassin’s Creed Mirage, the higher price of Assassin’s Creed Shadows resulted in more revenue, according to GfK/Nielsen data via The Game Business.
Physical sales in the UK are 63% of what Assassin’s Creed Valhalla managed back in November 2020, according to The Game Business, but much of that can be credited to the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw a huge spike in software sales. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla was also available on more platforms physically than Shadows.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is also the biggest physical launch of the year, ahead of Monster Hunter Wilds. According to data provided to VGC, Shadows was the series’ second-biggest launch ever.
The game, which launched on console and PC last week, marked the first major Ubisoft game to release day one on Steam since 2019. Previously, the publisher prioritized its own digital store, as well as the Epic Games Store, at launch.
Ubisoft has announced that the game has reached 2 million players, but didn’t provide specific details on how that was divided by platform.
In VGC’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows review we wrote: “With excellent gameplay, a compelling narrative and a massive, beautiful world to explore, it is so much better than many expected it to be.
“Even if it’s not the game that saves Ubisoft, it did exactly what it needed to, bringing confidence back to one of modern gaming’s biggest and most troubled franchises.”
Shadows also arrives during a pivotal moment for publisher Ubisoft. Following several underperforming releases and a worsening financial outlook, Ubisoft said in January it was taking “decisive steps” to reshape the company and “actively exploring various strategic and capitalistic options to unlock the full value potential” of its assets.
