Assassin's Creed: Shadows Sales Data Leaked...

Assassin's Creed Shadows Is Selling, But That Doesn’t Mean It’s Winning...

There’s a lot of noise today about Assassin’s Creed Shadows being the second best-selling game of 2025 in the U.S. so far, according to Circana (formerly NPD) data shared by Mat Piscatella.

Going with the idea that Shadows has topped sales charts for three weeks straight when it launched - and now currently trails only Monster Hunter: Wilds, let’s pump the brakes a bit here before crowning Ubisoft’s latest title a runaway success.

Because here’s the reality: sales ≠ profit—and while the defenders of wokeness may be completely clueless, Ubisoft knows it. Some basic math below to keep things in perspective:

Rumors have been swirling that Assassin’s Creed Shadows may have cost upwards of $300-800 million (USD) to develop and market. That’s some seriously astronomical numbers, even for a AAA game. If those figures are even remotely accurate, then Shadows is facing a nearly impossible hill to climb just to break even. Selling well out of the gate would typically be a great sign—especially when it’s propped up by cinematic trailers and media hype—but in this case... what happens when the dust settles and the bills come due?

Just take a look at Ubisoft’s stock:

It's down over 30% in the last 30 days alone, and it continues to spiral downward, showing exactly how investors feel about the company’s long-term viability. If Assassin’s Creed Shadows were truly the big win here that Ubisoft desperately needed, we’d be seeing a different story in the markets. But... we’re not. And that says more than a Twitter victory lap ever could.

Over on Bluesky, Ubisoft defenders are gloating like this is some kind of vindication.

Anyone actually paying attention here understands that investor confidence and financial viability matter far more than first-month chart rankings. Ubisoft’s internal documents leaked last year already revealed the company was already under some seriously massive pressure to deliver a hit—and fast.

This also isn’t just about Assassin’s Creed anymore. Ubisoft has been burning money chasing trends, bloating development costs, and relying on outdated formulas while competitors continue to keep innovating. Shadows may be “#2 year-to-date” in terms of sales, but how many sales is that, and how many does Ubisoft need to break even? This kind of one-sided info without a 'control group' to compare it against and how much money Ubisoft needs to make up just to save face. Ubisoft needs more than sales here. It needs profit—and a LOT of it fast. No matter what happens, it feels like they just won't be able to do that with Shadows here.

So sure, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is selling... but is it winning? That’s an extremely different convo. It's funny to me that we keep seeing more and more articles out there running defense for Ubisoft and giving a positive spin to the narrative, without providing tangible information to actually understand if what they are telling us means anything... And judging by Ubisoft’s stock and investor behavior, the answer is far from certain. But yeah, let's watch those defenders of Ubisoft take a victory lap here, as Ubisoft themselves continues to actively fall apart.

~Smash