PC Gamer "Journo" Confuses 'Copies Sold' with 'Players Engaged'.
Shoutout to Hypnotic for the heads-up on this hysterical disaster.
I didn’t think gaming journalism could fall any lower, but then I stumbled across this article from PC Gamer by Stevie Bonifield titled “Assassin's Creed Shadows hits 2 million players, putting it on track to be the series' most successful game yet.” (archive link)
...And let me tell you: this might be the worst piece of “reporting” I’ve read in my entire life.
It’s not just bad — it’s insultingly bad. And thinking back on all the articles I've read over the years... that's a big yikes. A yikes to the point of wondering how this character found his way into a career of games journalism in the first place.
Players ≠ Sales. How Is This Hard?
Right out of the gate, Stevie (who apparently specializes in "gaming gear and accessories") reports that Assassin’s Creed Shadows has hit 2 million players. Cool.
But then, he immediately pivots to comparing this number with the sales milestones of Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla.
That’s not just misleading — it’s either flat out willful ignorance or a desperate attempt to push a marketing narrative for Ubisoft. Maybe even both.
Let me spell this out for anyone still confused here (including Stevie):
Players engaged includes anyone who booted up the game via Ubisoft+, Game Pass, friend sharing, or borrowed accounts. It adds in Steam players who had purchased the game and returned it for a full refund within the 2 hour window. It includes the free copies given out with every intel processor. For all we know, if Ubisoft is being funny with the numbers, it COULD even count every single time the game is booted up.
Units sold means ...well... someone actually BOUGHT and paid for the game.
Those two things are not the same. In fact, they aren't even in the same galaxy. You’d think a supposed "journalist" would know that, but apparently, we’re living in the era where clickbait and parroting corporate press releases counts as “reporting.” I refuse to believe that someone could really be this stupid. I mean it:
Ubisoft Is Playing the PR Game — And PC Gamer Is Helping
Ubisoft hasn’t released any of the actual hard sales numbers for Shadows. Hmmm. Wonder why. Probably because they’re not as strong as they hoped. So now instead, they trot out a “2 million players” stat — conveniently vague, conveniently unverifiable — and let sites like PC Gamer run with it like it’s gospel. It would be fantastic if Ubisoft provided some transparency and context for EXACTLY how they came up with that number.
But no. Rather than ask any real questions or press for clarity, Stevie gleefully claims that Shadows is “just a katana slash away” from being the biggest Assassin’s Creed game ever. Based on what? Vibes? Corporate hype?
If you swapped out the byline here, I honestly couldn’t tell if this article was written by a Ubisoft marketing intern or someone who’s supposed to be part of the press. And ironically in all this mess... that's the real tragedy here. Shows just how far standards in journalism really have fallen.
Journalism Is Dead — Long Live PR Disguised as News
Gaming “journalism” today has become little more than a glorified megaphone for publishers. Critical thinking is gone. Skepticism is dead (unless said game goes against Marxist messaging).
In its place, we have breathless articles like this one, where engagement metrics are dressed up as sales and comparisons are made between fundamentally different things. It isn't even apples to oranges, its like comparing a ham sandwich to a spaceship.
Worse yet, the piece tries it's darndest to shoehorn in a last-minute “culture war” jab — accusing anyone who questioned the historical accuracy of Shadows of being part of some racist outrage mob. Why? Because apparently in Stevie's eyes, the facts weren’t strong enough to carry the article without trying to score some of their all too important political points.
This isn’t journalism. This is straight up propaganda. And it’s why people have stopped trusting gaming media altogether.
Final thoughts: I've said this before and I'll stand by it now - If Assassin’s Creed Shadows really is a massive success, then great — let’s see the actual sales numbers, not vague player engagement metrics being pushed as fact.
Until then, journalists like Stevie Bonifield are doing gamers — and the truth — a massive disservice, and that's why they continue to lose whatever 'war' they are waging.
~Smash
It's in their name - Politically Correct Gamer. The truth doesn't matter as long as they push the message.
I don't particularly care if Ubisoft wants to lie to themselves or others. What matters is that the Cultural Marxist agenda is continuing, healthy and well, just moving back underground. If most players can't see that games like 'Kingdom Come- Deliverance II' are JUST as bad as 'Assassin's Creed- Shadows', it will be another victory for them.
It’s almost like they’re blatantly lying for self preservation
Fun fact, there’s no comments section on that article because they know fine well what they’re doing…. Wouldn’t wanna be corrected now would they? Scummy site