Assassin's Creed: Shadows releases on Steam with CCU of ~65k (highest series launch on the platform)

Predict AC: Shadows Peak CCU

  • Less than 50k

    Votes: 77 33.6%
  • 50k - 100k

    Votes: 121 52.8%
  • 100k - 200k

    Votes: 20 8.7%
  • Above 200k

    Votes: 11 4.8%

  • Total voters
    229
This is such an inane comparison since Shadows hasn’t even been on the market for a week yet.

It'll be a week in a few days, and it's still fair to say that most probable scenario, it's maybe ~ halfway to the 3.4 million number reported for XVI.

It's also possible that Square-Enix gave sold-in numbers, but it's also also possible what B2P numbers update Ubisoft give are sold-in as well.

Completely amazing how you pivoted a conversation about market reception of a multiplatform game into straight up console warring.

I was just pointing out how a lot of the posters in the Reset thread trying to downplay that one post I quoted are Xbox diehards...and fanboys.

And if you knew their posting history, you'd agree.

I think it's fairly obvious that XVI underperformed. But that's the game's fault, not the PS5.

Well, it's likely underperformed. We don't know for sure in actuality, because SE are cagey with the numbers. We know it underperformed on Steam, and that it missed their highest-end sales targets on console.

But you're right in that its underperformance is wholly the result of the game and Square-Enix, not it being a PS5 exclusive for a period of time. Unfortunately there are a lot of mouth-breathers who will continue to insist that was the primary cause of its sales failure :/

Valhalla also did not release on Steam until over 2 years after launch. During that span, Valhalla on PC sold at a much higher profit margin due to it being sold on Ubisoft's own storefront or paying a much lower cut on EGS.

True, both also things worth considering. And Ubisoft were in a much better position financially than they are right now with Shadows.

Not that Shadows should single-handedly be responsible for saving Ubisoft from whatever bad fate awaits them, but circumstances are placing a lot of pressure on the game it wouldn't have had otherwise, financially. So it's highly likely no matter how well it does, it won't be enough, and AFAIK it's Ubisoft's biggest game until at least the next AC.

Regardless of the numbers themselves, one thing I am curious about is the demographics that are playing the game, as peaks at the moment are occurring in what would be the afternoon in the US, rather than the evening, even during work days. :pie_thinking:

3w0QOTg.jpeg

Other parts of Europe maybe?

It's peaking at 15:00 UTC, that's in the afternoon in Europe and in the morning in the US. That's weird since western games usually peak at around 8 PM / 20:00 local time. The only way to explain the peak is that AC:S is more popular in India than in the west.

Is AC even that popular outside of Western markets? Genuine question. If the game is selling best on console ATM, and the console market in India isn't that large (for context, IIRC in 2022 it was 60K PS5s sold the entire year, and 6K Series S/X consoles same timeframe), I just don't see how India is pulling in those numbers.

I mean, Europe itself is a collection of countries, so it could be a mix of them surging the player counts at peak on Steam for the game. Just an alternative guess.



Is this real?
 
GTA6 is woke too. Will the grifter brigade have the balls to attack it?
No ,because GTA6 is a console-only release in 2025. they cant post screenshots of Steam player counts and claim victory.

Red Dead 2 is woke af according to their criteria and these guys didnt say anything about it. Arthur has some progressive views on slavery, Native Americans, women rights and colonization.
 
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Lokaum D+

Member
No ,because GTA6 is a console-only release in 2025. they cant post screenshots of Steam player counts and claim victory.

Red Dead 2 is woke af according to their criteria and these guys didnt say anything about it. Arthur has some progressive views on slavery, Native Americans, women rights and colonization.
He sure does, 1 hour into the game and he takes 3 girls to prostitute themselves and steal in Valentine, such a woman rights defender and progressive man.

 
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calico

Member
Regardless of the numbers themselves, one thing I am curious about is the demographics that are playing the game, as peaks at the moment are occurring in what would be the afternoon in the US, rather than the evening, even during work days. :pie_thinking:

3w0QOTg.jpeg
That's morning in the US, afternoon in Europe. The more usual 20:00-21:00 peak is afternoon in the US, evening in Europe, then it fades as Europe goes to bed.

It looks like the American audience isn't showing up, or maybe the Western audience in general.
 
That's morning in the US, afternoon in Europe. The more usual 20:00-21:00 peak is afternoon in the US, evening in Europe, then it fades as Europe goes to bed.

It looks like the American audience isn't showing up, or maybe the Western audience in general.
That would be a disaster for Ubisoft because the Asian gamers couldn't give less of a fuck about AC

AC has always been considered a Western franchise for Western gamers
 

Roufianos

Member
I find it interesting that people even consider this game may fail. It won't fail, it's an AC game. There's no way it won't break even.

The more interesting question is, would this game be more successful/sell faster/reach more players if it wouldn't try to please a vocal minority and "modern audience" by including a main character that doesn't fit the setting (and even break a lot of the immersion) and including romance options that pander to a group that has almost no positive impact on the sales? And will it impact Ubi's future decisions?

Failing is relative. A game can sell 100k and be a success, this one seemingly needs to make billions to save Ubi. Surely that's the actual most interesting part of it?

Also you're claiming the game is woke as of that's a new thing to turn people off from this series? How about Odyssey which put Kassandra into a role she was almost out of place in as Yasuke? It also presented Ancient Greece as some gay paradise and had random black and Sri Lankan looking characters who were meant to be native Greeks. Not to mention Origins trying to portray the Ancient Egyptians as black.
 
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calico

Member
Failing is relative. A game can sell 100k and be a success, this one seemingly needs to make billions to save Ubi. Surely that's the actual most interesting part of it?

Also you're claiming the game is woke as of that's a new thing to turn people off from this series? How about Odyssey which put Kassandra into a role she was almost out of place in as Yasuke? It also presented Ancient Greece as some gay paradise and had random black and Sri Lankan looking characters who were meant to be native Greeks. Not to mention Origins trying to portray the Ancient Egyptians as black.
The series being woke isn't new, but they were perhaps a little smarter before with offering a woke option and a normal (for the role being depicted) option for the player character, so even the people grumbling about the inclusion of the woke option could hold their nose and pick the other option.

This time they made the two options woke and woker, plus you have to play as both. They've been thumbing their nose at their audience for years with this stuff ('Oh, 2/3 of you picked the male option? Well too bad, the female option is canon'), but I would say they've gone further this time. Their position this time isn't 'let's compromise', it's 'you will take your medicine whether you like it or not.'
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
Lol

AC is traditionally very much a console focused series after how Ubisoft treated PC players.

They left Steam for Epic exclusivity and came crawling back, but Steam players won't just fork over 70 euro's.

The game is 30 euro cheaper on keysites, which are Ubisoft Connect only keys, not steam. Most people will probably have bought those keys.

It's also available on their subscription service, I'm playing it on there right now. Only 18 euro for one month, I'm sure I'll have my fill by then.

And it's selling quite well on consoles as well.

The retarded crusade against this game has ofcourse affected it. People who won't look beyond what they get shoveled onto their screen on Twitter and YT due to hate clickbait, well they are missing out. This is probably the best AC game since the oldschool series if you ask me. I like the greek/roman setting more but I think this is an awesome AC game.

Im sure you won't believe me though.
Season 9 Thank You GIF by The Office


Great post. Facts
 

seething left

Neo Member
Failing is relative. A game can sell 100k and be a success, this one seemingly needs to make billions to save Ubi. Surely that's the actual most interesting part of it?

Also you're claiming the game is woke as of that's a new thing to turn people off from this series? How about Odyssey which put Kassandra into a role she was almost out of place in as Yasuke? It also presented Ancient Greece as some gay paradise and had random black and Sri Lankan looking characters who were meant to be native Greeks. Not to mention Origins trying to portray the Ancient Egyptians as black.
I was talking about break even as a measure of success for this game. As for Ubi, I don't believe they can be saved by a single game, even if it sells well.

Wokeness, or rather anti-wokeness and anti-DEI, have reached mainstream, and people not only have become aware and sensitive to that topic, but it also seems like they are not afraid to express their feelings about it anymore. Primarily because they now have a bigger backup. Outside of the purple eco-chamber, this behaviour can now be observed on so many gaming communities, even there, where it was taboo before.
 

PeteBull

Member
Considering Ubi is celebrating the two million milestone so earnestly, seems like it's hitting their expectation goals just fine 🤷‍♂️



Probably the most sensible post in this topic.
Come on bro, do we all need to post enthusiastic twitter post from concord crew?
And that was most epic bomb in whole gaming history :p
Twitter celebration is just that, positive marketing, aka pr, wait for shareholders/financial info , there u see real shit :)
 

PeteBull

Member
No ,because GTA6 is a console-only release in 2025. they cant post screenshots of Steam player counts and claim victory.

Red Dead 2 is woke af according to their criteria and these guys didnt say anything about it. Arthur has some progressive views on slavery, Native Americans, women rights and colonization.
Played rdr2, arthur can have views that were considered progressive back in the era, but game itself wasnt woke at all, u could do nasty/funny shit to a first wave feminist :
 

Baemono

Member
Come on bro, do we all need to post enthusiastic twitter post from concord crew?
And that was most epic bomb in whole gaming history :p
Twitter celebration is just that, positive marketing, aka pr, wait for shareholders/financial info , there u see real shit :)

Concord celebrations were about the number of bullet shots and this kind of nonsense, nowhere near the number of players. Everybody seeing that understood that the game was cooked. And it was.
 

PeteBull

Member
Failing is relative. A game can sell 100k and be a success, this one seemingly needs to make billions to save Ubi. Surely that's the actual most interesting part of it?

Also you're claiming the game is woke as of that's a new thing to turn people off from this series? How about Odyssey which put Kassandra into a role she was almost out of place in as Yasuke? It also presented Ancient Greece as some gay paradise and had random black and Sri Lankan looking characters who were meant to be native Greeks. Not to mention Origins trying to portray the Ancient Egyptians as black.
Since we are in steam ccu thread, lets measure its success(at least on steam/pc), by ccu number, so far it peaked at 60086 and currently (11:24 euro time on sunday) 47347 so pretty terrible numbers even compared to AA games like methaphor fanthasio that did 85k peak ccu, and guess what it was 70usd game too, not some 30-40usd price so very fair comparision
 

Lokaum D+

Member
Lol

AC is traditionally very much a console focused series after how Ubisoft treated PC players.

They left Steam for Epic exclusivity and came crawling back, but Steam players won't just fork over 70 euro's.

The game is 30 euro cheaper on keysites, which are Ubisoft Connect only keys, not steam. Most people will probably have bought those keys.

It's also available on their subscription service, I'm playing it on there right now. Only 18 euro for one month, I'm sure I'll have my fill by then.

And it's selling quite well on consoles as well.

The retarded crusade against this game has ofcourse affected it. People who won't look beyond what they get shoveled onto their screen on Twitter and YT due to hate clickbait, well they are missing out. This is probably the best AC game since the oldschool series if you ask me. I like the greek/roman setting more but I think this is an awesome AC game.

Im sure you won't believe me though.
thats why i love this kind of virtual signaling shit, ppl want the game to be a sucess, defend the game at all cost, but they dont buy a copy at full price or even at discount to support this awesome AC game, they ll just "rent" though Ubi+ and than say that grifters affected sales... the hypocrisy is palpabe :messenger_tears_of_joy: :messenger_tears_of_joy: :messenger_tears_of_joy:
 
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geary

Member
Since we are in steam ccu thread, lets measure its success(at least on steam/pc), by ccu number, so far it peaked at 60086 and currently (11:24 euro time on sunday) 47347 so pretty terrible numbers even compared to AA games like methaphor fanthasio that did 85k peak ccu, and guess what it was 70usd game too, not some 30-40usd price so very fair comparision
Did Methaphor was also on Ubisoft Connect? Why everyone keep ignoring this? Why so much bad faith ?
 

PeteBull

Member
thats why i love this kinds of virtual signaling shit, ppl want the game to be a sucess, defend the game at all cost, but they dont buy a copy at full price or even at discount to support this awesome AC game, they ll just "rent" though Ubi+ and than say that grifters affected sales... the hypocrisy is palpabe :messenger_tears_of_joy: :messenger_tears_of_joy: :messenger_tears_of_joy:
Biggest hypocrites are professional journos/reviewers, getting free early review copies so they can make their living and then claiming they judge game from objective standpoint, and even those sellouts gave AC:S 80/100 avg metascore, with plenty of them calling out major flaws of the game even if it wasnt reflected in their review scores(u can see snippets of reviews in the wiki, some were brutal af :p ).
Players at least fork up cash if not for full price at launch then at ubi sub for a month so they pay at least something there :)
3,5/5 from this guy:
Giovanni Colantonio from Digital Trends praised the game for its "memorable characters and peaceful exploration" but criticised its "messy story and thin content".[57]

3,5/5 too here:
Kevin Dunsmore of Hardcore Gamer thought it "had a lot of elements on paper that made it sound like it could be the best Assassin's Creed game in years." but said "it also falls short on nearly as many."

this clown gave game 80/100:
Morgan Park of PC Gamer criticized the game's "dull story, bland cast, and barrage of quests", and Fraser Brown said that there was "a lot to like" but criticized the RPG elements.

Here proper 6/10 score:
Reid McCarter of PCGamesN said "While its open world is stunning, its combat is robust, and its dual-protagonist design is somewhat novel, Assassin's Creed Shadows proves too repetitive and dramatically flat to wholeheartedly recommend taking its trip back in time."

With those kinds of flaws pointed out u can tell big budget AAA game that provides free early codes to reviewers operates on a whole different scale, even with major critique they cant/wont give any lower score than 6/10 and many give the game additional 2/10 for brownie points DEI black protag in feudal japan, aka in the era/place where there was literally 0 or close to 0 black ppl, not to mention black samurais that made an impact on the history...
 

MMaRsu

Gold Member
thats why i love this kind of virtual signaling shit, ppl want the game to be a sucess, defend the game at all cost, but they dont buy a copy at full price or even at discount to support this awesome AC game, they ll just "rent" though Ubi+ and than say that grifters affected sales... the hypocrisy is palpabe :messenger_tears_of_joy: :messenger_tears_of_joy: :messenger_tears_of_joy:
It really is time to shut the fuck up.

Can you go play a videogame or something?

You dont know my financial situation so no need to be a judgy cunt about it.
 
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Lokaum D+

Member
It really is time to shut the fuck up.

Can you go play a videogame or something?

You dont know my financial situation so no need to be a judgy cunt about
did i strike a nerve ? its OK to rent ( i rent lots of games ) a game if you are broke or even if you want to, no problem at all, i was just pointing out that you are blaming other for affecting sales when you arent directly supporting the game, just that, there is no need to be this upset this time at morning.

Abou me playing video game, just platinumed MHWilds, thanks for asking.
 
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Baemono

Member
Biggest hypocrites are professional journos/reviewers, getting free early review copies so they can make their living and then claiming they judge game from objective standpoint, and even those sellouts gave AC:S 80/100 avg metascore, with plenty of them calling out major flaws of the game even if it wasnt reflected in their review scores(u can see snippets of reviews in the wiki, some were brutal af :p ).
Players at least fork up cash if not for full price at launch then at ubi sub for a month so they pay at least something there :)
3,5/5 from this guy:


3,5/5 too here:


this clown gave game 80/100:


Here proper 6/10 score:


With those kinds of flaws pointed out u can tell big budget AAA game that provides free early codes to reviewers operates on a whole different scale, even with major critique they cant/wont give any lower score than 6/10 and many give the game additional 2/10 for brownie points DEI black protag in feudal japan, aka in the era/place where there was literally 0 or close to 0 black ppl, not to mention black samurais that made an impact on the history...

I mean if we agree that out of 10, 5 points are for the technical aspects, and 5 points are for the gemaplay/story, the game being very beautiful, with good gameplay, and fun to play but with a meh story, a score of 7-8/10 doesn't seem too much of a strech.
 

MMaRsu

Gold Member
did i strike a nerve ? its OK to rent a game if you are broke, no problem at all, i was just pointing that you are blaming other for affecting sales when you arent directly supporting the game, just that, there is no need to be this upset this time at morning.
I dont care about 'supporting' the game. I want to play games that are fun.

I haven't blamed anyone for affecting sales by the way.

So stfu bro.
 

Sharius

Member
so sunday almost over, can we say 60k is the highest it can reach on steam platform, don't see a chance it can climb higher given an other weekend
 

PeteBull

Member
so sunday almost over, can we say 60k is the highest it can reach on steam platform, don't see a chance it can climb higher given an other weekend
Its climbing again, 1 more evening/night to go, then it will be officially no more hope.
Not even 1pm euro time here, and AC:S making greatests jumps in 4-6hours.
U can see it clearly by studing ccu graph:
Peak happens at 15:00 to 16:00 UTC
 

Killer8

Member
Biggest hypocrites are professional journos/reviewers, getting free early review copies so they can make their living and then claiming they judge game from objective standpoint, and even those sellouts gave AC:S 80/100 avg metascore, with plenty of them calling out major flaws of the game even if it wasnt reflected in their review scores(u can see snippets of reviews in the wiki, some were brutal af :p ).
Players at least fork up cash if not for full price at launch then at ubi sub for a month so they pay at least something there :)
3,5/5 from this guy:


3,5/5 too here:


this clown gave game 80/100:


Here proper 6/10 score:


With those kinds of flaws pointed out u can tell big budget AAA game that provides free early codes to reviewers operates on a whole different scale, even with major critique they cant/wont give any lower score than 6/10 and many give the game additional 2/10 for brownie points DEI black protag in feudal japan, aka in the era/place where there was literally 0 or close to 0 black ppl, not to mention black samurais that made an impact on the history...
So are we caring about what journalists are saying for this one?

If a game people hate is reviewed well (Dragon Age Veilguard), the journalists are paid shills.

If a game people love is reviewed well (Silent Hill 2), now we love journalist opinions and use that as extra proof of it being a great game.

If a game people love is reviewed poorly (Days Gone), now it's a conspiracy by journalists against a great game.

Journalist opinions are selectively used when people want to prop up a certain narrative. Even if we were to say that journalism itself was at all reliable (it isn't), the fact people weaponize it in this way makes it truly useless in these discussions.

You're far better off using user scores on digital platforms. It's "very positive" on Steam with a lot of the negatives stemming from issues with running the game, the launcher, how it runs on Steam Deck - so, the usual PC technical complaints distinct from the game quality.

And then on the PlayStation Store, where you need a verified purchase to rate it, it's sitting at a high 4.74 based on 8k ratings. This reminds me of how a vocal minority of people despise (not a real) Final Fantasy 16 on forums, when in reality it's rated 4.52 by 35k people.
 

PeteBull

Member
Always assumed this was a western dominated franchise, so I'm kinda surprised the ccu peaks about 1 hour after Black Myth: Wukong.
Same, i remember some other games usually peaked late at night eurotime, or at least late evening, and not 3-5pm :D
That would point to most americans playing it on console, since they are nowhere to be seen on steam.
 

PeteBull

Member
Climbing fast, already at 61384 and it has about 2 more hours of peak to go, likely gonna break 65k, and 4sure gonna break previous record, made by odyssey so 62k.
 
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Gaiff

SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
Climbing fast, already at 61384 and it has about 2 more hours of peak to go, likely gonna break 65k, and 4sure gonna break previous record, made by odyssey so 62k.
Not impressive. Odyssey was from a time when Steam wasn’t as popular as it is today. Back in 2018, it was almost always firmly behind PS, now it rivals and even often beats it.

I’ll say it again, I don’t think the numbers are disastrous, but they seem to be middle of the road.
 
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PeteBull

Member
Not impressive. Odyssey was from a time when Steam wasn’t as popular as it is today. Back in 2018, it was almost always firmly behind PS, not it rivals and even often beats it.

I’ll say it again, I don’t think the numbers are disastrous, but they seem to be middle of the road.
For steam they are quite terrible actually, but who knows, maybe ppl play it outside of steam, and majority on consoles, so lets wait for proper/more announcements from ubi, so far it looks pretty bad to me if we consider budget of the game.
 

MMaRsu

Gold Member
Not impressive. Odyssey was from a time when Steam wasn’t as popular as it is today. Back in 2018, it was almost always firmly behind PS, not it rivals and even often beats it.

I’ll say it again, I don’t think the numbers are disastrous, but they seem to be middle of the road.

It is impressive considering the game is 30 euro cheaper on Ubiconnect.

You'd have to be a thief of your own wallet to buy it on Steam really.
 

Gaiff

SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
For steam they are quite terrible actually, but who knows, maybe ppl play it outside of steam, and majority on consoles, so lets wait for proper/more announcements from ubi, so far it looks pretty bad to me if we consider budget of the game.
A lot of people play it on Ubisoft Connect because that’s where the franchise has been traditionally sold. I think it’s only the second game after Odyssey to be sold on Steam day 1. Ubisoft Connect also gives a 20% discount for 100 units on their store.

If we don’t hear about sales over the next few weeks, then it has likely not met their expectations. The "engagement" metric is just sneaky and manipulative. It cannot be trusted.

It is impressive considering the game is 30 euro cheaper on Ubiconnect.

You'd have to be a thief of your own wallet to buy it on Steam really.
? Shows as the same price for me, but I have over 100 units, so I can get it 20% off. Where are you getting 30 euros cheaper from?
 
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MMaRsu

Gold Member
A lot of people play it on Ubisoft Connect because that’s where the franchise has been traditionally sold. I think it’s only the second game after Odyssey to be sold on Steam day 1. Ubisoft Connect also gives a 20% discount for 100 units on their store.

If we don’t hear about sales over the next few weeks, then it has likely not met their expectations. The "engagement" metric is just sneaky and manipulative. It cannot be trusted.


? Shows as the same price for me, but I have over 100 units, so I can get it 20% off. Where are you getting 30 euros cheaper from?
On every website that sells keys for games.

Not in Ubi's own launcher
 
Not impressive. Odyssey was from a time when Steam wasn’t as popular as it is today. Back in 2018, it was almost always firmly behind PS, not it rivals and even often beats it.

I’ll say it again, I don’t think the numbers are disastrous, but they seem to be middle of the road.
Especially when you consider general peak CCU on Steam back in 2018 versus today. In October 2018, the peak CCU was 16.3 million versus the 41 million CCU this month. That's over a 150% increase and by law of large numbers, you'd expect AC Shadows to do much better than Odyssey.

If we don’t hear about sales over the next few weeks, then it has likely not met their expectations. The "engagement" metric is just sneaky and manipulative. It cannot be trusted.
Speaking of which, has Ubisoft made their "3 million players" tweet yet? I would've expected them to do that a few hours ago already considering this is the weekend...
 
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