In spite of all the pre-release online vitriol, it looks like there’s a real appetite for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, at least in the USA. The game currently is the second best-selling game in America, behind Capcom’s massive hit Monster Hunter Wilds.
According to Circana, a games industry data analytics firm, the game has performed especially well during its first three weeks since launch. Executive director at Circana Matt Piscatella posted the findings on Bluesky, writing “Here’s a fun one… Assassin’s Creed: Shadows has been the best-selling video game in the US for each of its first 3 weeks in market, according to Circana’s Retail Tracking Service (dollar sales, latest data through April 5).”
A lot was riding on this one. Prior to its release, Ubisoft was in dire straights, looking for buyers as the company suffered back-to-back subpar releases. Eventually, the company would split off its major IPs in a new company of sorts, owned in part by Tencent. Even though that’s already happened, Shadows’ success is an incredibly valuable card in Ubi’s deck. It proves that, despite all the publisher’s flaws, it can still release big budget, games that rake in the big bucks. Something it’ll have to continue to prove it can do regularly in the coming years.
The game was also met with waves of online vitriol from folks who moaned about one of the game’s protagonists being black samurai Yasuke as well as other aspects of the title. It seems like this opinion doesn’t speak for the wider gaming public, proven by Shadows’ continued success in the states. It’s obviously worth noting that this result isn’t necessarily reflective of the wider global market, but with the USA being such a big market for AAA games it certainly does indicate a key win for the action game. Who knows, maybe with this surge of momentum, Ubisoft can finally do something with Beyond Good and Evil 2! Am I asking for too much? Yeah, you’re probably right.
Have you played Assassin’s Creed Shadows yet? Let us know below, as well as whether you think it’ll mark a new positive trend for Ubisoft.
