Game News

Black Flag Resynced sells 2 million on day one, a Steam record for Assassin's Creed

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced sold 2 million copies on its first day after launching on 9 July, Ubisoft's Vantage Studios announced on 10 July. The remake of the 2013 game, rebuilt on the Anvil engine and led by Ubisoft Singapore, peaked at 99,451 concurrent players on Steam within 24 hours, the highest for any Assassin's Creed game on that platform, Game Developer reported.

India's Outlook Respawn compared that peak with Assassin's Creed Shadows (64,825) and Odyssey (just over 62,000), and noted that Ubisoft cited a copy count this time rather than the vaguer “one million players” it used for Shadows. It said the $60 price had drawn scepticism and that critics scored the game 85% on OpenCritic and 84% on Metacritic.

“the greatest reward we could have hoped for” — creative lead Martin Schelling, via Game Developer

Game Developer set the success against Ubisoft's cost-cutting. Ubisoft Barcelona, reportedly behind the game's underwater levels and water technology, was on strike over a proposed layoff of 51 workers. Ubisoft said the plan “remains a proposal” until a consultation ends. Ubisoft's own release added that the game ranked No. 1 on Twitch on launch day.

How each outlet framed it

• Game Developer — the record launch next to the Barcelona strike and Ubisoft's wider job cuts.
• Outlook Respawn — the numbers against earlier Assassin's Creed games, and the price.
• Ubisoft — the company's own figures: sales, Steam peak, reviews and store ratings.

What we don't know yet: Ubisoft gave no split of the 2 million copies between PlayStation, Xbox and PC.