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- Assassin’s Creed Shadows opened to the franchise’s worst sales in Japan in years.
- The RPG debuted at 5 on the Famitsu charts, selling only 17k copies.
- Furthermore, the Ubisoft title underperformed massively compared to other AAA Samurai games set in Japan.
After months of build-up, multiple delays, and controversy, Assassin’s Creed Shadows finally launched worldwide this month. Despite the negative press surrounding the title, the RPG has been performing decently so far, amassing over 3 million players already and the second-best launch in the franchise’s history.
However, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is having a harder time impacting Japan, with many fans not warming up to the title despite positive reviews from critics. And, as it turns out, the game’s first-week sales in Japan are among the worst in Assassin’s Creed franchise history.
Why it matters: The RPG’s failure to pander to Japanese audiences even after being set in their country is troubling for Western titles.
As per Famitsu’s charts, only the PlayStation 5 edition of Assassin’s Creed Shadows made it into this week’s top 10, selling a mediocre 17.1K copies and sitting at 5th place in its debut week. These launch numbers make it the franchise’s worst start in the series in almost a decade.
Previous entries like Valhalla and Odyssey sold over double the amount in their first week, with even AC Mirage releasing with better numbers in Japan than Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
To make matters even worse, the RPG’s debut week accumulated much lower sales than other AAA Samurai titles set in Japan, such as Ghost of Tsushima, Nioh, and Rise of the Ronin. All these opened to over 50K sales, with Sony’s Ghost of Tsushima selling a whopping 212K units, twelve times more than Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
Overall, the RPG performed poorly in its first week, overshadowed by older Assassin’s Creed titles and other Samurai-based AAA games set in Japan. Outside the country, however, the game is doing surprisingly well, with projections putting it at 6 million players in under a month in addition to positive Steam reviews.
Hence, the negative Japanese reception is the single thorn in Ubisoft’s side. Why do you think Assassin’s Creed Shadows is struggling in Japan? Tell us in the comments below, or head to the Tech4Gamers forum for discussion.
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Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devoutly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.
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