Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows Reportedly One of the Franchise’s Weakest Sellers

Assassin’s Creed Shadows has reportedly sold just 4.3 million copies in seven months, making it one of the weakest mainline entries in the franchise despite strong reviews.

Analyst Report Suggests AC Shadows Is a Commercial Flop

After years of delays and a massive development budget, Ubisoft’s latest AC title launched this year to generally positive reviews, with critics praising its visuals and world design. But now that the dust has settled, sales data paints a very different picture.

According to figures analyzed by Alinea Analytics, Shadows has only managed 4.3 million copies sold worldwide across all platforms.

Breaking down the numbers, 56% of sales came from PlayStation 5, 26% from Xbox Series consoles, and 18% from Steam.

While those numbers might sound decent at first glance, they’re far below expectations for a flagship Assassin’s Creed release. To put it into perspective, Assassin’s Creed Mirage has already sold around 5 million copies, while Valhalla reached a staggering 20 million units.

The comparison gets even harsher when you look at Ghost of Yotei, a rival samurai-themed action game. As per Alinea’s report, Ghost of Yotei sold 2.5 million copies on PS5 in just three weeks, surpassing Shadows’ seven-month total of 2.4 million on the same platform. That’s a brutal contrast, especially since both games target a similar audience.

Even more surprising is the performance in Japan. You’d expect a samurai-inspired Assassin’s Creed to resonate strongly there, but, as per the report, only 1.6% of Shadows’ total sales came from the Japanese market. By comparison, Ghost of Yotei sold three times as much in the same region.

This news comes on the heels of Marc-Alexis Côté’s departure from Ubisoft, where he served as the longtime creative lead of the Assassin’s Creed franchise for over 20 years. His exit follows the recent reorganization of Ubisoft’s major brands under a new subsidiary called Vantage Studios, partly owned by Tencent. Many view the failure of Assassin’s Creed Shadows as a reason for this departure.

For now, Shadows has a glimmer of hope as it prepares to launch on the Switch 2 next month. While the Switch has hosted Assassin’s Creed before, it has only been through remasters and collections like Black Flag and The Ezio Collection. None of the newer RPG-style entries, from Origins to Valhalla, have made it to the platform until now.