At a Tumultuous Time, Assassin's Creed Shadows Is Doing the Business for Ubisoft

Very curious to see the legs on this one. It definitely feels like the controversy has had the opposite effect which hopefully marks a significant shift in attitude from gamers and devs against these controversy farming losers.

On Twitter I'm seeing constant giveaways for the game under the Ubisoft Partner Program. Is this a normal thing that happens?

I'm also curious about the cost of the game and how many units/revenue/subs they need to be successful.

The recent calls had Ubisoft saying layoffs were happening regardless of the success or failure of the game. Hopefully this is no longer the case in the event of success.

Loving Shadows so far at 13 hours. I thought Outlaws was good too. shrugs

You have also done a lot to make the game a success (yes, unconstructive).

I like Star Wars Outlaws, by the way. I got it in the last PSN sale. I'm actually having a lot of fun with it. Maybe it's been patched in the meantime. IDK. But have no problems with it.

@Ryo_Hazuki I've been hearing good things about Outlaws recently from people who've got the game on sale/after patches. Sounds like it is a promising purchase for an empty period.

In before the inane mental gymnastics people have been using to reduce the game's initial milestones.

If you can ignore all the petty, nitpicky criticism that this game has received from the internet, you can actually enjoy a polished, gorgeous fuedal-Japan AC game with a huge focus on stealth 🙌🏻 Ubisoft have learned to take care with this one and released it in a wonderful state, as they have learned from SW Outlaws (which has also been fixed since). People need to chill and be a bit more positive ✌🏻

I don’t believe for one second that this game is out selling wilds. We’ll see soon enough though.

Valhalla probably sold better because it was the first AC game on the then brand new ps5 and everybody that likes the game would have it straight off the bat. I'm happy shadows is doing well and I'll definitely be purchasing it later in the year and I'm also glad ubisoft actually have some positive press for once.

"Whatever your thoughts on Ubisoft, the industry would be worse without it."

No, it wouldn't.

No one wants Ubisoft to go bankrupt! Most of us want the ownership and management to restructure. Single player battlepass and 3 different in game currencies is disgusting. Paying to unlock the map, not being able to get the best armour and gear without a huge grind or swipe the credit card for instant access. Pay to win bundles that completely break the game.

None of this was covered in any of the professional reviews!

@Boxmonkey it says in the UK so I can definitely believe it.

I know no-one who ever plays monster hunter but know loads who play AC games so it makes perfect sense to me

Valhalla had the benefit of being a launch title for the PS5 and SX. If anything Valhalla done better then it normally would.

@Boxmonkey You're either haven't played this or are lying.

The battle pass is free and can't be bought with or upgraded with money. 3 in game currencies? There's only one unless you're counting the key currency for the BP and Helix credits. If you pay to unlock the whole map why even play the game its meant to be explored. You can get some of the best armour and perks really early on so that's straight up lie plus its an RPG you aren't meant to get the best stuff until later on like in most RPG.

@Boxmonkey I do. It's the far bigger name in the UK.

"Whatever your thoughts on Ubisoft, the industry would be worse without it."

Is this a fu**** joke? We're talking about the publisher who said, and I quote: "Get Comfortable' With Not Owning Games"

The publisher that implements the most disgusting and revolting micropayments into a single player game.

the publisher who basically makes the same game over and over again.

But well, I think as long as you can OWN THE CHUDS, you'll ignore these things.

Seriously, the sooner Ubisoft goes bankrupt and this shakes an earthquake in the Western Gaming industry, the better.

then Pushsquare, ResetEra and all the other gaming media can cry again about why the Chuds don't buy this games.

Aside from having an in game item store with pay to win items (that yes I know are optional but it still is an awful practise I hate),

Ubisoft has delivered without doubt the best AC Game and even the best Ubisoft game since Black Flag, the delays really did help it, after over 10 hours I’m loving the game to such an insane degree.

I think people often forget when they clamour for Ubisoft to fall, that there are so many people there working for Ubi that are so damn passionate about the games they make, it’s just that they’ve been stifled by a horrible corporate outfit at the top for so long when it comes to mandates and obsessions with chasing trends.

However AC Shadows can be the beginning of a new era for Ubi, whether it will be or not, nobody can really say for sure, but I can say that I’ll never wish for the closure of any studio, and I think anyone who does has never worked a day in their lives or lacks knowledge/experience of the real world.

How in the absolute heck is this game outselling wilds? Everyone and their mother is playing wilds. I don't know anyone, streamer or otherwise who is playing Shadows.

Oh wait, this is only physical copies. In that case it might make sense since I'm seeing the majority of people going digital nowadays.

@Zuljaras that was a misquote.

As I’ve said before, the Ubisoft guy was basically being asked what it would take for the subscription mode to become more significant.

He quite rightly said that consumers would have to become more comfortable with not owning their games for that to happen and services like Gamepass and Ubisofts own service to become the norm.

He wasn’t dictating. Just saying customers aren’t up for it yet.

There is nothing controversial in that. Most of us don’t own music now and use sub models. Consumers led the industry when their tastes changed and they got comfortable with it.

Industries don’t force change upon customers, if anything they get dragged by consumers e.g. mp3.

@Cornpop76
Yes, I'm sure consumers were absolutely clamoring for the NFT games that Ubisoft desperately wanted to push on us a year ago. They absolutely do try to force change and sometimes it works (battlepasses, microtransactions) and sometimes it doesn't (online passes, NFTs). By presenting us with a problem -slower progression for example- they can then offer us a solution that we think we know need (exp boosters). The trick is always "How do we make these suckers think that they need this?" And they're really good at it.

@ATaco Looking at Steam numbers it seems about 70% of the wilds player base aligns to Asian timezones and Europe evening time actually corresponds to wilds quietest time of the day. NA peak time does not fare much better than Europe.

So, yes, the game is still selling a lot outside of Asia but relative to the massive Asian numbers it's probably not earth shattering

I got a physical copy with the digital deluxe add-ons for £56. Thought that was a great deal compared to the price of the digital standard £70 and digital deluxe at £84! Played a decent bit and the game looks great and the combat and stealth is good. Still would have Ghost of Tsushima above it. Though this will do nicely until Yotei releases.

@breakneck I honestly think the "controversy" was a load of nonsense.

I think it would have sold this much regardless of whether or not grifters ginned up the false narrative that it's woke and its proof that this is a vocal minority of people.

The audience for this rage bait is just people who were either never going to buy the game in the first place or straight up people who also make rage bait.

Oh the haters are going to have a melt down if AC outsell Monster Hunter. (Which is very likely. As popular as Monster Hunter is, it isn't a very welcoming experience for the mass audience out there. AC on the other hand has always appealed to both the hardcore and the casual gamer.)

So good to see. I'm absolutely obsessed with Shadows. I was so hooked I forgot to eat lunch on my all day Saturday session! Made up for it with a big dinner though. 😄

Long live Assassins Creed!

If the industry would be worse off without Ubisoft, then maybe the industry deserves to die.

The industry survived just fine when Ubisoft was smaller. It’ll be just fine after Ubisoft is nonexistent or sold off.

@ATaco NFT it's an example of a firm testing the water and it not sticking.

You will get more of what you consume and less of what you don't consume.

Ubisoft can't force anything on you, because they sell luxury products that you don't need.

Whereas new trends like advanced access periods were tested and you all lapped it up. So you will see that expanded.

Companies will gladly give you exactly what you want, and that will back fire on you all if you aren't careful where you cast your financial vote.

@EddieGallad it's probably exaggerated to say that ACS is a failure, but yeah forcing the narrative that it is the biggest hit of all time and that it outperformed MMW is quite ridiculous. Btw, MMW sold 8 millions in 3 days...

Can we stop fighting and just enjoy a video games's successful launch

Good for ubisoft.too many publishers not making video games anymore.so assassin's creed shadows is doing it.for them. Word up son

I find it baffling how many people want this game to fail. Look: Ive played it for about 24 hours, and it’s better than a lot games releasing at the moment. It’s incredibly high quality, with great gameplay, gorgeous graphics, sublime use of menus and a great attention to the minutiae. In this gamer’s humble opinion it deserves all the success it’s clearly getting.

@Ryo_Hazuki Outlaws is a super fun game. It’s my next game to play through after I finish Veilguard.

Well deserved! Shadows is an amazing game. Easily, the most stunning open world I've seen since RDR2 and maybe even surpasses it. I've spent so much time just wandering around the landscape, taking in the sights.

Naoe's move set is also the best that AC has had since Unity. So effing good.

While I don't mind Yasuke in the game at all, I haven't seen any narrative beats that really justify his place in the game. It's a small complaint from my perspective, but I'm sure no one will make a big deal out of it....

The discourse around this game and Ubisoft in general is exhausting. They've gone and delayed this multiple times and instead launched with a polished product a bit later (that's both a good videogame and an impressive achievement with the tech - go watch DF's video) - precisely what people have been crying out for.

They also support their games for what feels like an eternity - R6 is how many years on the go now?

They also pumped out more (free) 60FPS patches for their old games on PS5/XSX than any other company.

They're also one of the few companies that actually has a steady cadence of releases. I know I was enjoying PoP The Lost Crown when there wasn't a lot else. I was also enjoying Fenyx at PS5 launch (once I NG++++'d Demon's Souls). And FC6, Motorfest, Valhalla, Avatar.

They are of course miles away from being some benevolent force - no gaming company is. But they've also done a lot right, and it's become face-palmingly frustrating that the discourse seems to be as nuanced as "blacker than a black hole" or "retina-detaching white", with nothing in between.

@Ryo_Hazuki yeah I feel outlaws was unfairly received. I thought it was excellent!

@rusty82 I believe @boxmonkey selectively didn’t read the “In the UK” part. It’s one of those things where you omit certain info to confirm your own bias.

It's a surprisingly strong game, and this is coming from a long-time Ubisoft hater. The world is well-realised, especially the cities and towns, and the combat is very satisfying and reactive. Even the story, this time around, has some degree of intrigue comparative to previous entries.

It might not be a return to form as such, but it's certainly an improvement from the direction the franchise was heading in.

@DennisReynolds what @boxmonkey is saying about the game reads like something being spread across the internet. The way he attacks the game, there’s no way he’s played that much of it to know all this. Just read some of that somewhere and decided to regurgitate it.

@KawakiisaFraud that line you “quoted” is taken way out of context. Do yourself a favor and actually listen to the interview or read the transcripts. Stop listening to YouTubers who have an agenda. If you listen to the interview yourself you’ll find that line is dissected and taken out of a much broader dialogue.

People really are turning themselves into pretzels on this one.

@KawakiisaFraud I went ahead and pulled the transcript for you:

” One of the things we saw is that gamers are used to, a little bit like DVD, having and owning their games. That's the consumer shift that needs to happen. They got comfortable not owning their CD collection or DVD collection. That's a transformation that's been a bit slower to happen [in games]. As gamers grow comfortable in that aspect… you don't lose your progress. If you resume your game at another time, your progress file is still there. That's not been deleted. You don't lose what you've built in the game or your engagement with the game. So it's about feeling comfortable with not owning your game.“

“The point is not to force users to go down one route or another," he explains. "We offer purchase, we offer subscription, and it's the gamer's preference that is important here. We are seeing some people who buy choosing to subscribe now, but it all works."

And I think that’s the point — I am definitely on the side of owning the disc (talking about consoles of course because today even physical sales are not necessarily possible to run without a launcher, be it Steam, Ubisoft or any other platform where you redeem the code). Only exception I know that has written the philosophy of “owning your games” all over is GOG.

Your “quote” isn’t even said by him at all! And he even said “I am definitely on the side of owning the disc…” So again, please read past the headline and don’t follow YouTubers who obviously have an agenda.

@Zuljaras I’ve posted the transcript of that interview. Why do you all keep putting quotes around “Get comfortable not owning your games” when it wasn’t said at all! That’s not how quotes work!

@MrPeanutbutterz great comment

After over 10hrs with naoe it was all a bit meh if I'm honest ,but I can now play as yasuke, he's like samurai django , and he can climb better than naoe which is a bit weird, he's the much better character.

@B0udoir “Biggest game launch in the UK this year!”

C’mon man! They didn’t say it’s outselling MHW! They said it’s selling more in the UK. Why are you all selectively reading?!

@MrPeanutbutterz yeah i don't get it either , I couldn't even tell you the last time they released a bad game.

@lazarus11 Yeah it's nauseating. Especially when people are saying the industry would be better off without them - no Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, no PoP The Sands of Time, no Beyond Good & Evil, no AC2, no Rayman Legends, etc. That to me is definitely a weaker industry.

I forgot to mention how their games go into such frequent and deep discounts it's basically a meme. And yet that's supposed to be a bad thing (which to me is the logic of someone who never owned a Nintendo console - their games are pretty much locked to full price).

@Dodoo yeah I got a free Outlaws key and although I bounced off it hard, that was because Star Wars is dead to me and I wasn't motivated to continue.

I couldn't really fault the game much though.

Like Shadows, it was nothing special, but a decent solid title. The hate was excessive and irrational in both cases.

Really enjoying Shadows (I’ve managed to block out all the stupid hatred), and if anyone was on the fence about Outlaws, the fully patched version is also great. Not quite finished yet, but played for many hours and thoroughly recommend it. Especially at non-launch prices. Long may Ubi Soft continue.

It’s a great game. Took the day off to play.

I'm glad that Shadows is doing well so far for Ubisoft since they really needed a win after 2024 was not a good year for them (Skull and Bones then Outlaws). Despite all the controversies surrounding the latest game in the Assassin's Creed franchise, it has been very enjoyable to play despite some issues.

@LifeGirl @Zuljaras @KawakiisaFraud A misquote, DRM, microtransactions, and leading the industry-wide charge to remake Far Cry 3 as much as possible. Definitely don't see how that justifies laying off ~19000 employees, losing a grand lineage of IP, all but eliminating French gaming, and severely reducing competition in the AAA gaming space.

@Zuljaras that’s paraphrasing, not quoting. But it seems no matter his answer you’ve already had your mind made up. Its either Ubisoft is outright telling people they need to be comfortable with not owning their games. Or they mean exactly that, but didn’t say so directly.

It kinda proves how the angry YouTubers control the narrative. Like, I watched a YouTuber who’s okaying Shadows and he’s just playing the game. Not saying it’s amazing or the best game ever. Just playing. His entire comments section is people negatively commenting about Yasuke and hatred for Ubisoft. The you go to a YouTuber who’d post something like that misquote and those same people in the comments section are eating up the BS. It’s insane behavior!

@Balie3000 yep and I think this gen is starting to show its self I'm enjoying the f***out of this game.

@Zuljaras DRM was in most all Capcom Games and then removed more than a year post release.

@Zuljaras I see. It’s crazy that he posts the full transcript but it looks like no one read past the headline and his subheading. If you read the full comment it’s obvious he’s not saying “Well, people need to get comfortable with not owning their games because that’s what’s gonna happen…” Because that’s how everyone who’s up in rms about that “quote” seems to take it.

He saying for the subscription model to work, gamers have to get comfortable with not owning their games. But, there’s a choice between subbing, buying digital, or buying physical. He’s not being dismissive like many proclaim.

Star Wars Outlaws is a masterpiece in open world game design and also technically quite the marvel. To be fair, I played it about 2 months after release. Felt a little bad that after enjoying it so much and ubi didn't get any money since it was second hand, but then I happily purchased the DLC which has also been good.

@Zuljaras You have to justify laying off so many because you said the industry would be better without Ubisoft. That would be a direct consequence of the loss of Ubisoft. If you don't think such mass layoffs would be good, for the industry or otherwise, consider rephrasing your proposition.

It's fine to be critical of DRM. Or microtransactions. Or early access. But none of this stuff is exclusive to Ubisoft, nor would one expect their desolation to significantly cease such practices. So unless you think one less anti-consumer company in an industry of anti-consumer companies is a net gain, worth losing anything worthwhile that company provides to its employees or the industry itself, then it's a little preposterous to insist we'd be better without them.

@Zuljaras oh, I was thinking about the pc/steam Capcom releases.
But playstation discs that don't run without internet? Hmm, don't know of any cases. I played outlaws and that worked fine without internet, which surprised me after all the fuss. Though most do want to play it patched.

@Zuljaras So it's just about DRM? All right, that's very specific, but I guess I can respect that.

Still though, being bought out doesn't mean their anti-consumer practices would change. And it ESPECIALLY doesn't mean they wouldn't suffer mass layoffs. I guess besides all that, though, in saying you want Ubi's essence to stay, but want a massive shakeup that changes the company for the better, you're essentially recanting your original statement (that the industry would be better without them). Now you're saying: we should keep the good parts of them, but eliminate the bad. Which is fine, but those two propositions are really not the same thing at all.

@Zuljaras I'm not disputing the dire circumstances Ubisoft has found themselves in. Nor am I attempting to validate their leadership.

I'm just saying, you said the industry would be better without Ubisoft. I think that it very clearly wrong. And you've since significantly backtracked on that original statement. First it was: things would be better if they were gone. Then it was: they shouldn't be completely gone, but they should be a subsidiary of another company. Now it's: I'm not saying they SHOULD be gone, but the writing's on the wall.

If you're just anti-DRM, see Ubisoft's struggles, and see a likely future where they downsize, then that's fine. I literally have nothing there to dispute (I mean, I haven't really had an opportunity, or good reason, to bring up Shadows' initial online check was probably due to that street date break. At least for Shadows, specifically. But I don't have much intention or desire to defend DRM/mandatory online, so whatevs) If you're standing by the proposition that the industry is better without Ubisoft, however, then I have something to argue with.

@Zuljaras They would also leave behind a ton of jobs, notable French representation, and some sort of competition for those other nefarious AAAs. Which are literally the yet unaddressed points made in my original comment, to show how little movement there's been here. I'm really not a big fan of Ubisoft, but losing them is a net loss for the industry.

I will also say, somewhat in their defense, they have tried making not super expensive Far Cry 3-likes with bloated teams and budgets (The Lost Crown or Sparks of Hope) and audiences just didn't resonate. I won't absolve their fault there — lord knows I wouldn't give PlayStation a pass for the same behavior — but these industry-wide issues are about more than publishers' actions.