Assassin’s Creed Shadows seems to have been launched to a great start, with Ubisoft gladly announcing two million players achieved two days after the game’s launch. Yet, a more complicated story might be hidden under this figure. According to Games Analyst Rhys Elliott, “the numbers do NOT reflect a smash hit Ubisoft desperately needs.”

On LinkedIn, Rhys Elliott has shared some insights into the “obfuscating things” behind the performance of the game (spotted by PCGamesN).

Firstly, although Ubisoft said that in terms of attracting players, Shadows has now surpassed the launch numbers of Assassin’s Creed Origins and Odyssey, it’s worth noticing that when these two games launched in 2017 and 2018, they weren’t available on the largest PC storefront Steam, while Shadows was launched there on day one of release. 

Secondly, the two million players didn’t reflect the sales and is based on data across all platforms and stores, including Steam, Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Ubisoft+. This subscription service, which went live in September 2019, lets players access new games like Shadows at launch for $18 per month. It wasn’t even there when Origins and Odyssey were released. 

Another thing to be noticed is that, according to data from Alinea Analytics, three days after its launch, Shadows sold 310,300 copies on Steam. In comparison, Monster Hunter Wilds sold nearly ten times that number (3.7 million) in its first three days. Another recently released hit, Split Fiction, sold almost three times more (882,500). On PS5, Shadows sold 711,700 copies in two days, while Monster Hunter Wilds sold over double that number (1.7 million) in the same timeframe.