LIES By Omission. Ubisoft is Coping. HARD.
Ubisoft is in full-on damage control mode right now, and I've honestly never seen anything like it. They're desperately trying to convince the public—and more importantly, investors—that Assassin’s Creed Shadows is off to a strong start.
...It isn't working.
The official Assassin’s Creed Twitter account recently posted a chest-puffing announcement that the game now has over 3 million players, calling it the second-highest Day 1 sales revenue in franchise history and goes on to brag about a “record-breaking” performance on the PlayStation Digital Store. They can say all the stats in the world that they want to, but when it comes to business and sustainability, there's only one stat that matters - is the game making money? Seeing as that's the one stat they continue to avoid posting about, I'd say it's safe to say that nope... And it's not even close.
But behind the marketing fluff and social media hype, the numbers tell a very different story. It's more lying by omission, and people see right through it. 2nd highest day 1 sales revenue in Assassin's Creed History means nothing if they spent 5-10x the budget on the game compared to previous installments. The problem with the stats they continue to throw out there is that there is no control group given, meaning it's easy to fudge the numbers and make it appear, at least on the surface, better than it actual is underneath.
Ironically, The announcement was CLEARLY strategically timed just before the Euronext Paris market closed—a transparent attempt to reassure investors. But even THAT move failed to swing the day green. While a bump was given to the share price, it wasn't enough, and Ubisoft stock continues the down trend.
Ubisoft’s stock didn’t go green that day, and the markets didn’t buy what they were selling. Investors are getting wise to all of their these hollow metrics.
“Three million players” might sound like a big number—and to be honest, it is! ...That is, until you realize what Assassin’s Creed Shadows reportedly cost to make. Rumors have placed the budget anywhere between $350 million and $900 million. In that very real context, announcing those three million players barely even make a dent. Especially considering the vast majority of players are most likely coming from Ubisoft's monthly service Ubisoft+. Ubisoft would need tens of millions more players to even begin to break even, let alone call this a success. Simple math can tell anyone that. At this point, their reliance on player count instead of actual sales revenue or profit margins is just a giant red flag... and peak of pushing positivity on social media in hopes to turn the tides of public sentiment on the overall feelings of the extremely controversial game.
And things get even worse when you look at how Shadows is performing internationally—especially in Japan, where the game is set. You’d think Ubisoft would have pulled out all the stops to make a strong cultural impression for their first and eagerly awaited game based in Japan, but no... The reception has been nothing short of abysmal.
According to @Pirat_Nation, Japanese sales for Assassin’s Creed Shadows are down 60% compared to Valhalla. Let that sink in. The Japanese audience—the very same people Ubisoft was supposedly honoring with this title—completely rejected it. The public over there simply wasn’t interested.
Then there’s this brutal comparison from @RealHypnotic1:
That’s not just a flop. That’s an complete embarrassment. Worldwide now. A game that could have potentially cost nearly a billion dollars that was set in Japan, got absolutely blown out by Ghost of Tsushima - a four-year-old game from a Western studio that actually took their time to understand and respect the culture it was portraying.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is coping here, hard. Ubisoft’s attempts to spin this launch as a massive success are nothing more than projection. There’s no transparency, no real numbers—just vague “player counts” and selective achievements designed to fool casual observers and keep shareholders from panicking. But it’s not working for anyone actually paying attention. And people are paying attention. Investors aren't happy either.
If you want the truth, don’t look at Ubisoft’s tweets. Always Follow the money. ~Smash
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