MASSIVE FLOP! Assassin's Creed Shadows SteamDB Player Count CRASH LANDS!

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Struggles to Impress on Steam DB Concurrent Player Count

Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows has (finally?) officially launched, but the SteamDB concurrent player count for it tells a story that’s likely far from what Ubisoft had hoped for. While concurrent players aren’t the ultimate metric of a game’s success, I've noticed that they typically serve as a pretty strong indicator—and in this case, the results aren’t promising... at all.

For some unknown reason, the game ended up launching three full hours early on Steam, and within the first 30 minutes, it had already crossed 10,000 concurrent players. Three hours later, it had climbed to over 20,000 concurrents. But now that we can fast forward to the first full day of availability, and Assassin’s Creed Shadows is struggling to hold over 40,000 concurrent players.

For a smaller indie-style game, that would be a respectable number for sure. But... this is Ubisoft—a massive publisher with nearly 20,000 employees and a game with end credits that reportedly run over two hours long. This is a game that, at least according to Ubisoft and their investor conference calls, was expected to dominate the charts, and so far, it simply hasn’t. @Grummz on X mentions how it is the 36th most played game on Steam right now. That's embarrassing for a supposed 'Massive' launch title.

These numbers aren’t sustainable for a company that's already been bleeding money on bloated development cycles and questionable live service decisions.

There are likely a good amount of players who signed up for a month of Ubisoft+ just to try the game out. But here’s the problem: that model isn’t sustainable. After one month of like 17 bucks, most of those players will cancel their memberships, leaving Ubisoft with no residual income from them.

A game of this scale needed strong sales and long-term engagement, and right now, neither seems to exist for them. Add to that Ubisoft's decision to pay Hasan Piker to play Assassin’s Creed: Shadows ...it all perfectly aligns with the company's increasingly woke agenda. I covered this on a stream as well, where Hasan, the EXTREMELY controversial leftist streamer, notorious for his pro-communist rhetoric, defense of unethical regimes, and mocking of 9/11 victims—and has a track record that should make any company think twice before associating with him.

But Ubisoft? Nah... They fully embrace this kind of performative activism, it fit perfectly within their own ideology, making Hasan the ideal shill for their latest DEI-infested project. This move further exposes to the world just how Ubisoft prioritizes ideology over gaming, catering to influencers who push political narratives instead of appealing to the actual gaming audience. The sheer audacity of this move still has me reeling in disbelief...

First Impressions After 4 Hours of Gameplay

I played Assassin’s Creed Shadows for about four hours on stream at launch, and here are my overall initial thoughts:

• Graphics: Above average for sure, with incredible scenery that makes for some breathtaking moments.

• Combat: Engaging enough to have fun with, even if not revolutionary.

• Stealth: Playing as Naoe has decent stealth mechanics, with some minor issues but overall satisfying.

And that’s where the positives end.

• The game is a slog—it drags itself out in a way that feels like artificial padding.

• The dialogue is atrocious, to put it nicely... filled with plenty cringe-worthy writing moments and choices that give the illusion of player interaction but ultimately end up at the same result.

• The voice acting is some of the worst I’ve ever heard in my life.

• There was noticeable lag, especially immediately following cutscenes, where the game would be chugging for a solid 30 seconds before it was able to catch up with itself and loading the environments (I play on PC with a Nvidia RTX 4060 Graphics card).

• Even in the first four hours, the game already feels repetitive, which doesn’t bode well for the long-term experience.

I’ll get back to it and give it more of a fair shot, but based on first impressions, I can confidently tell everyone that there’s no reason to rush out and buy this game at $70. If you’re a hardcore Assassin’s Creed fan, wait for the inevitable Ubisoft fire sale. It’s worth playing for you eventually, but not at full price...

It’s early, but the signs are clear—Assassin’s Creed Shadows is shaping up to be a massive flop... And Ubisoft as a company, is in danger of being completely dismantled.

~Smash