Not even 1 day after release, Assassin's Creed Shadows' player count on Steam already has Valhalla beat – and now it's coming for Odyssey and Origins

Assassin's Creed Shadows screenshot showing female protagonist Naoe
(Image credit: Ubisoft)

Ubisoft finally saw the release of its long-awaited action RPG Assassin's Creed Shadows just today, but it's already racking up impressive player counts on Steam – so much so, in fact, it's breaking the series' other entries' own records.

Assassin's Creed Shadows is currently sitting on Steam with "Very Positive" reviews overall, but what's perhaps more impressive than the excellent feedback on launch day is the actual number of players already hopping into the game. The new game's all-time peak was hit shortly after its release earlier today, coming in at a whopping 28,620 players total. As if that wasn't mind-boggling enough, it's got other Assassin's Creed titles beat.

By quite a bit, too – just look at Assassin's Creed Valhalla and its own peak user count, which managed to garner 15,431 players in December of 2022. That's a whole 13,189 players fewer than Shadows' release day record. Similarly, Assassin's Creed Mirage has a peak player count of 7,837 – a difference of 20,783 when compared to Shadows. Ubisoft's latest action RPG has a ways to go before it tops entries like Odyssey and Origins, though.

Assassin's Creed Origins, for instance, boasts an all-time peak of 41,541 players at once, and that's still far off from Assassin's Creed Odyssey and its own stellar record of 61,984 users – 33,364 more than Shadows' current best. That doesn't mean the new game won't beat the series' champions on Steam, however, as it did just launch and as our own Assassin's Creed Shadows review states, is a title that "thrives on boldness."

Hungry for more? Here are some of the best Assassin's Creed games you can give a go after Shadows.

Anna Koselke
Staff Writer

After spending years with her head in various fantastical realms' clouds, Anna studied English Literature and then Medieval History at the University of Edinburgh, going on to specialize in narrative design and video game journalism as a writer. She has written for various publications since her postgraduate studies, including Dexerto, Fanbyte, GameSpot, IGN, PCGamesN, and more. When she's not frantically trying to form words into coherent sentences, she's probably daydreaming about becoming a fairy druid and befriending every animal or she's spending a thousand (more) hours traversing the Underdark in Baldur's Gate 3. If you spot her away from her PC, you'll always find Anna with a fantasy book, a handheld video game console of some sort, and a Tamagotchi or two on hand.

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