Ubisoft has revealed in its recent earnings report that Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been exceeding the company’s expectations. In the report, the company noted that the Assassin’s Creed franchise has generated “211 million session days”, which it marks as being 35 percent higher than the average from the last couple of years.
Along with this, Ubisoft has also noted that Assassin’s Creed Shadows is about to reach an even wider audience thanks to the upcoming December 2 launch of the title on the Nintendo Switch 2. Aside from Shadows, the older games in the franchise have also seemingly performed quite well.
Sales and player numbers for Assassin’s Creed Shadows were helped by the fact that Ubisoft has continued to release free updates for the title, complete with new additions like the New Game+ mode. Along with this, Ubisoft has also credited the release of Claws of Awaji back in September as contributing to continued player interest in the game.
“[Assassin’s Creed] Shadows benefitted from the launch of the New Game+ mode, which was widely anticipated by the community and introduced greater difficulty and new challenges for players,” said the company in its earnings report. “The Claws of Awaji expansion released on September 16 and contributed to re-engaging players. It was praised as a solid addition to the base game, offering new unique boss fights in a beautiful and dark atmosphere. Looking ahead, Assassin’s Creed Shadows will reach a broader audience with its launch on the Nintendo Switch 2 on December 2.”
When it comes to the future, Ubisoft has great expectations from Assassin’s Creed Mirage picking up steam again thanks to its recently-released Valley of Memory update. The company noted that initial feedback has been quite positive, and has confirmed that the title managed to grow its “player activity” by double, and hitting the 10 million players mark.
The company has spoken quite positively about the performance of the Assassin’s Creed franchise, as well as The Division 2 and the Nintendo Switch 2 release of Star Wars Outlaws. However, it also noted that Rainbow Six Siege has seen a dip in player activity and spending. The company has attributed this to “a temporary surge in cheating”, and has confirmed that it has established a plan to tackle the issues that have been discovered.
In the same earnings report, Ubisoft CEO and co-founder Yves Guillemot also spoke about the deal that the company had made with Tencent, which is valued at €1.16 billion. As part of this deal, Tencent will become a minority stakeholder in the recently-established subsidiary Vantage Studios, and the deal is set to close “in the coming days”.
“The transaction with Tencent is on track to close in the coming days,” wrote Ubisoft in its earnings report. “All conditions precedent have been satisfied. At closing, the €1.16bn investment will deleverage the Group. It will also enable the acceleration of Vantage Studios’ IP growth, support selected investment opportunities across the rest of the Group, and facilitate ongoing reorganization efforts.”
For more details about Assassin’s Creed Shadows – available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S – check out our review. Also check out details about Assassin’s Creed Mirage’s Valley of Memory update while you’re at it.
