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[UnrealEck]

I bought a pass last night. Haven't played the game yet but downloaded it.
It's not that surprising for what is essentially the Assassin's Creed setting everyone wanted for years to come out and despite controversy, still have a decent number of players.

I still think this being the game everyone wanted should have massive numbers.
Generally numbers of games sales increases. More population (though that's declining too now) and more people playing games. Games rapidly became much more mainstream since the era of live streaming too.

There are 2 problems with that statement.
One is that this is a very expensive game to make. Probably between 200-250 million. Maybe more with advertising.
The second is that those 2 million are not full priced copies sold. Part of it are subscriptions and someone that pays 18$ is very far from the 70$ of a full priced game.

Plus the game was notably delayed (twice I think?). That's bound to have bumped up costs again. I wouldn't be surprised if they went back to their advertising and tweaked that as well after the negative reception it was getting.

 

[Kotaro]

They used players for Valhalla.

That's what I said, they're one of the few using PLAYERS metric to obscure true UNITS SOLD

Their revenue and stock price speaks for itself, down 80% in the past 5 years

 

[PeteBull]

They used players for Valhalla.

We got info actually:

And straight from the wiki, hard numbers:

Overall, the game is the second most profitable title in Ubisoft history.[83] It went on to become the fifth best-selling game of 2020 and the sixteenth best-selling game of 2021 in the US.[84][85] By February 2022, the game had made over $1 billion in revenue.[86]

Assassin's Creed Valhalla passes $1bn revenue

Assassin's Creed Valhalla has now earned more than $1bn revenue, making it the first game in Ubisoft's flagship franchi…

www.eurogamer.net

 

[Lokaum D+]

Already at 100k+ for the weekend?

 

[MMaRsu]

59k

 

[DForce]

That's what I said, they're one of the few using PLAYERS metric to obscure true UNITS SOLD

Their revenue and stock price speaks for itself, down 80% in the past 5 years

You said "now" they're using players when they have been reporting players for more than 4 years now.

 

[DForce]

We got info actually:

And straight from the wiki, hard numbers:

Assassin's Creed Valhalla passes $1bn revenue

Assassin's Creed Valhalla has now earned more than $1bn revenue, making it the first game in Ubisoft's flagship franchi…

www.eurogamer.net

It was 20 million players.


This is after the report of 1 billion in revenue came out.

 

[adamsapple]

There are 2 problems with that statement.
One is that this is a very expensive game to make. Probably between 200-250 million. Maybe more with advertising.
The second is that those 2 million are not full priced copies sold. Part of it are subscriptions and someone that pays 18$ is very far from the 70$ of a full priced game.

The answer to both of those problems is that the game has not cratered yet, it is still increasing, and it seems like it will continue to increase for the foreseeable future.

 

[Kotaro]

You said "now" they're using players when they have been reporting players for more than 4 years now.

you are incorrect, see a few posts above yours, they reported UNITS SOLD for each AC

 

[geary]

They are reporting players like 99% of the publishers that have their game on a subscription service.

 

[PeteBull]

You said "now" they're using players when they have been reporting players for more than 4 years now.

Vallhalla launched in 2020 which means thats just 1 mainline entry over those 4 years tho
Its like u would be saying- im an adult i can vote in election for 4 years already- yeh u are 22yo aka young af still who knows nothing about life

 

[DForce]

you are incorrect, see a few posts above yours, they reported UNITS SOLD for each AC

Read my reply.

 

[DForce]

Vallhalla launched in 2020 which means thats just 1 mainline entry over those 4 years tho
Its like u would be saying- im an adult i can vote in election for 4 years already- yeh u are 22yo aka young af still who knows nothing about life

Were you upset they were reporting players when they released AC:V?

 

[PeteBull]

It was 20 million players.


This is after the report of 1 billion in revenue came out.

Hey, once AC:S gets 20m players/1b usd official announcement we will all agree its widely succesfull, same like vallhala was, those 1 and now 2m players are nothing in comparision
Here we got last proper impressive sales numbers for the AC series, actual sold copies:

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

In May 2014, Ubisoft announced that the game had shipped over 11 million copies.[82] Black Flag is the best-selling game in the Assassin's Creed franchise, with 15 million copies sold as of 2025.[83]

 

[Kotaro]

Read my reply.

so it only generates confusion, just what Ubisoft intended

it don't matter, their next earning report will reveal AC Shadows revenue

 

[winjer]

The answer to both of those problems is that the game has not cratered yet, it is still increasing, and it seems like it will continue to increase for the foreseeable future.

But at a slow pace and coming from a low base number.
It still hasn't even broken 60K. And I really doubt it will break the 100K ccu players on Steam.
If this was a AA game with a small budget, it would probably have made it's money back already.
But costing 200-250 Million, maybe more, it will take a lot more copies.

 

[PeteBull]

Were you upset they were reporting players when they released AC:V?

Im a guy, i dont get upset by that stuff, bro. But i will point out players numbers arent sales numbers

 

[rofif]

timestamped
@peter42O just got called out by asmon. rip in peices peter.

lol dick-eating warlord

it doesn't matter. Asmon is wrong.
just like dragons dogma 2, this stuff is fully optional and plenty of it in the game.
Besides - games are so cheap nowadays being 70$, I understand they want to squeeze more money. Everything else got 2-3x more expensive in recent years.
Unless it's really way worse in this game.
But in dd2 it was fully optional shit for people who would buy it... i have no idea why. i had like 10 of each items

 

[Blitzkrieg!]

The battle to break 60k is dramatic. Chuds holding the line so far.

 

[DForce]

Hey, once AC:S gets 20m players/1b usd official announcement we will all agree its widely succesfull, same like vallhala was, those 1 and now 2m players are nothing in comparision
Here we got last proper impressive sales numbers for the AC series, actual sold copies:

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

They used players for Valhalla.

Showing me numbers for other Assassin's Creed games is irrelevant. I'm showing you this isn't new and they were reporting player numbers during Valhalla.

 

[PeteBull]

But at a slow pace and coming from a low base number.
It still hasn't even broken 60K. And I really doubt it will break the 100K ccu players on Steam.
If this was a AA game with a small budget, it would probably have made it's money back already.
But costing 200-250 Million, maybe more, it will take a lot more copies.

Indeed, lets not forget methaphor:refantazio got 85k ccu on steam even

https://steamdb.info/app/2679460/charts/

When AC:S cant even beat that mid tier double A game's budget steam ccu u can tell its underperforming by a lot

 

[adamsapple]

But at a slow pace and coming from a low base number.
It still hasn't even broken 60K. And I really doubt it will break the 100K ccu players on Steam.
If this was a AA game with a small budget, it would probably have made it's money back already.
But costing 200-250 Million, maybe more, it will take a lot more copies.

I don't know why a slower pace or base number are relevant here. It's increasing and/or staying consistent to the current best performing game of the franchise on Steam.

Regardless of the fact that Steam is just one of the multiple ways the game can be accessed, using these numbers alone as a metric that Ubi aren't going to be able to recoup the cost etc just seems like jumping at shadows (pun not intended) to try and deem this a failure 2 days after release.

 

[PeteBull]

Showing me numbers for other Assassin's Creed games is irrelevant. I'm showing you this isn't new and they were reporting player numbers during Valhalla.

I showed u the sold copies numbers so u got proper benchmark on how successful mainline AC games are/were, thats where valhalla gotta land if we wanna consider it big success, half of it if we wanna consider it mild success.

 

[DForce]

I showed u the sold copies numbers so u got proper benchmark on how successful mainline AC games are/were, thats where valhalla gotta land if we wanna consider it big success, half of it if we wanna consider it mild success.

And they were irrelevant to my point.

 

[MMaRsu]

I still think 70€ full price over 59k CCU is a success. First of all CCU doesnt mean it just sold 59k obviously. It seems to be a success on consoles as well. A lot of keys will have been sold for the Ubi version because keys were 30€ cheaper. Then Ubi+ version is playable

 

[winjer]

I don't know why a slower pace or base number are relevant here. It's increasing and/or staying consistent to the current best performing game of the franchise on Steam.

Regardless of the fact that Steam is just one of the multiple ways the game can be accessed, using these numbers alone as a metric that Ubi aren't going to be able to recoup the cost etc just seems like jumping at shadows (pun not intended) to try and deem this a failure 2 days after release.

Most of a game's money, is done during the first month. That is when a game sells the most and at full price.
In fact, most games make most of their money, during the first week.
Very rarely does a game sell more, the longer it goes from it's release date.
That is why, after a 2 or 3 months, Ubisoft starts to discount their own games.

 

[adamsapple]

Most of a game's money, is done during the first month. That is when a game sells the most and at full price.
In fact, most games make most of their money, during the first week.
Very rarely does a game sell more, the longer it goes from it's release date.
That is why, after a 2 or 3 months, Ubisoft starts to discount their own games.

Ok, so that means we should at least let the game run its first month cycle through before we get the Circana's and whatnot.

The only thing we know so far is that it has reached 2 million players via sales and Ubi+ in around 48 hrs since its retail release, which is a pretty good metric

 

[Baemono]

That's what I said, they're one of the few using PLAYERS metric to obscure true UNITS SOLD

Their revenue and stock price speaks for itself, down 80% in the past 5 years

They also used players metric for Mario + Rabbids, despite being a Switch exclusive

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle Has Been Played by Over 7.5 Million Players

The critical acclaim for the beloved turn-based tactics game has been reflected in commercial success as well, Ubisoft reiterates.

gamingbolt.com

 

[Astray]

It's also easy to rack up the preorder numbers when you delayed the game twice.

Except they refunded the preorders when they delayed the game to 2025.

https://www.tweaktown.com/news/100707/ubisoft-refunds-assassins-creed-shadows-pre-orders-delays-game-to-early-2025/index.html

 

[Mownoc]

They've confirmed it has more players than origins/odyssey in 2 days but not Valhalla as I expected.

AC is too big to not sell, but it's not done as well as the previous.

 

[winjer]

Ok, so that means we should at least let the game run its first month cycle through before we get the Circana's and whatnot.

The only thing we know so far is that it has reached 2 million players via sales and Ubi+ in around 48 hrs since its retail release, which is a pretty good metric

Yes, we should wait a month or so.
Though the metric of player numbers is not realistic. Like I said before, paying 18$ for a month to play this game is not the same as paying 70$. There is a huge gap in there.
There is also the problem, that Ubisoft is probably also counting refunds and even different players, playing on the same account/game.
And it will probably take 5-6 million full price copies sold, just to break even.

 

[Alebrije]

The only metric that matters are proffits and stock price.

If shadows don't sell 5 millions off 70US units it Will be Bad for UBI.

 

[PeteBull]

I still think 70€ full price over 59k CCU is a success. First of all CCU doesnt mean it just sold 59k obviously. It seems to be a success on consoles as well. A lot of keys will have been sold for the Ubi version because keys were 30€ cheaper. Then Ubi+ version is playable

Strongly diseagree, anything under 100k ccu is big time underperforming, 100k+ u can claim game at least made even/is mild success, and over 200k ccu is big success, we got those poll options for a reason, AC:S isnt low budget indie or even AA game but huge few hundo milions usd of budget mainline entry in very popular franchise, we talking over 200m sold copies by 2022, official data.

Assassin's Creed Franchise Has Sold Over 200 Million Games Worldwide

Ubisoft has just revealed that the Assassin's Creed franchise has gone on to sell more than 200 million games.

tech4gamers.com

 

[ReBurn]

Yes, we should wait a month or so.
Though the metric of player numbers is not realistic. Like I said before, paying 18$ for a month to play this game is not the same as paying 70$. There is a huge gap in there.
There is also the problem, that Ubisoft is probably also counting refunds and even different players, playing on the same account/game.
And it will probably take 5-6 million full price copies sold, just to break even.

I'm confident that some of the people paying $18 for a month were never going to pay $70. Some are the ones who were going to wait a year and buy it for $20 in a holiday sale like they do every other AC game. And some of them will probably still buy it for $20 in the holiday sale.

 

[winjer]

I'm confident that some of the people paying $18 for a month were never going to pay $70. Some are the ones who were going to wait a year and buy it for $20 in a holiday sale like they do every other AC game. And some of them will probably still buy it for $20 in the holiday sale.

Correct, but the fact remains that someone paying 18$ is not the same as someone paying 70$. It's a huge difference in revenue that Ubisoft gets from either consumer.

 

[Blitzkrieg!]

I'm confident that some of the people paying $18 for a month were never going to pay $70. Some are the ones who were going to wait a year and buy it for $20 in a holiday sale like they do every other AC game. And some of them will probably still buy it for $20 in the holiday sale.

And a good chunk will forget they subbed and end up paying Ubi $18 a month for a year. Thats primarily why they do this service shit.

 

[UnrealEck]

Game doesn't even play for me. I can get into the main menu but can't run benchmark or start the game. It just gives me some DX12 error.
Disabled overlays (RTSS and Nvidia) still doesn't work.

Good job Ubisoft!
This was after me having a pain just trying to cancel my subscription renewal only to find the app account management takes you to a website you log into which then links to another Ubi site and parts of those sites have pages which are down.

Such a stellar experience and I've not even played it yet. I literally cannot remember the last time I've had an issue where I couldn't play a game.

 

[Gaiff]

Strongly diseagree, anything under 100k ccu is big time underperforming, 100k+ u can claim game at least made even/is mild success, and over 200k ccu is big success, we got those poll options for a reason, AC:S isnt low budget indie or even AA game but huge few hundo milions usd of budget mainline entry in very popular franchise, we talking over 200m sold copies by 2022, official data.

Assassin's Creed Franchise Has Sold Over 200 Million Games Worldwide

Ubisoft has just revealed that the Assassin's Creed franchise has gone on to sell more than 200 million games.

tech4gamers.com

Context matters. Ubisoft Connect might have the lion's share of the sales on PC. Plus, consoles might be doing the heavy lifting. If 80% of the copies sold are on PS, then 60K on Steam hardly matters.

We won't know until a month from now or so. If Ubisoft remains radio silent or evasive about the sales, then it's probably a flop.

Either way, it won't sell enough to save the company. They needed a banger on the level of Monster Hunter Wilds and this isn't even close.

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

And a good chunk will forget they subbed and end up paying Ubi $18 a month for a year. Thats primarily why they do this service shit.

They actually also had a 40% off deal sale going on for a year of ubi+, they probably got a bunch of people as well then just subbing for a year instead.

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

We can chat all we want about this, but because it's a publicly traded company, we will know eventually whether it has hit their sales target through public filings and shareholder meetings (along with a potential purchase).

Enjoy the discussion I suppose, but I'll just wait for something more official rather than marketing promotions.

Well we haven't learnt the numbers for Outlaws directly no? Only when the number of was leaked or something. They will push for number of players in the report.

 

[Blitzkrieg!]

The battle to break 60k is dramatic. Chuds holding the line so far.

"FALL BACK TO 65k, CHUDS! WE'LL HOLD THEM THERE!"

 

[Killer8]

It still hasn't even broken 60K.

You were about half an hour too early.

 

[adamsapple]

"FALL BACK TO 65k, CHUDS! WE'LL HOLD THEM THERE!"

Live look at the chud-cam.

 

[MMaRsu]

60k passed

 

[poppabk]

Correct, but the fact remains that someone paying 18$ is not the same as someone paying 70$. It's a huge difference in revenue that Ubisoft gets from either consumer.

Overall subscription revenue is nearly always better than one off sales. That's why everyone from car washes to Netflix to door dash do it.

 

[winjer]

Overall subscription revenue is nearly always better than one off sales. That's why everyone from car washes to Netflix to door dash do it.

Only if the consumer keeps up the subscription.

 

[Hawk The Slayer]

The only metric that matters are proffits and stock price.

If shadows don't sell 5 millions off 70US units it Will be Bad for UBI.

I don't have much doubt that AC being such a big and popular game would sell that much, I mean sold not merely players but that still won't be good enough since big budget popular AAA game like Spiderman 2 needed 7.2 million to break and 3.5 million wasn't great for FFXVI.

 

[Alebrije]

I don't have much doubt that AC being such a big and popular game would sell that much, I mean sold not merely players but that still won't be good enough since big budget popular AAA game like Spiderman 2 needed 7.2 million to break and 3.5 million wasn't great for FFXVI.

Agree, they need to sell at least 5 million 70 US
then they can sell 5 million more at different price ( discounts, ps plus/gpass)

 

[Kacho]

"FALL BACK TO 65k, CHUDS! WE'LL HOLD THEM THERE!"

Amazing thread

 

[Leopold]

An authentic Japanese movie indicated that Oda Nobunaga was actually female. Here is a picture of real Oda!

That is not the point. The point is that the whole thing isn't as relevant as people are trying to paint it. Gay romance is a feat in the series and historically...Japan apparently cares very little about it lol