Assassin’s Creed struggled early in this console generation, particularly following the release of AC Unity. Its notorious glitches may have influenced the hampered sales for subsequent entries, Syndicate and Origins, as the series faced a lot of criticism thanks to perception on its release. Yet, thanks to the continued success of 2018’s Odyssey after a massive shift in tone and direction came about with Assassin’s Creed Origins, it appears the franchise is back on track. Odyssey has garnered so much success that its sales are eclipsing those of Origins by about 50 percent.
Ubisoft’s latest earnings report shares news of Odyssey’s sales performance outpacing that of Origins for the first nine months of 2019. However, the publisher doesn’t further divulge specifics, such as the individual sales of each title. Still, it seems an impressive feat, which even translates to user engagement. According to Ubisoft’s report, daily engagement in Odyssey was also up by 60 percent in comparison to Origins.
Odyssey’s increased user engagement could be attributed to Ubisoft Quebec’s consistent support with free DLC and events. Throughout 2019, new story missions, modes, and events were regularly added to Odyssey, effectively turning Assassin’s Creed into a single-player live-service experience. Evidently, it worked favorably as players engaged with it again and again.
Courtesy of “a powerful comeback for Assassin’s Creed,” the steady growth of Far Cry, and Rainbow Six Siege’s remarkable success, Ubisoft titles continue to excel in terms of hours played. In 2016, the number of hours played across PC and consoles totaled two billion. By 2019, that number more than doubled to a whopping 4.5 billion.
Presently, fans await news of the next Assassin’s Creed, rumored to center on Vikings. The most recent bouts of speculation, however, are reportedly educated guesses at best. Hopefully, Ubisoft will reveal something official in the coming months, but with five titles scheduled to be released within the next year, it’s almost certain that a return to Assassin’s Creed is one of them.
[Source: Ubisoft via Globe News Wire]
