Assassin's Creed Shadows Was the Best-Selling Game in the U.S. for March

Assassin's Creed Shadows debuted past period to go the best-selling crippled successful the U.S. for March 2025 successful dollar sales.

This is according to analytics steadfast Circana, which reports that Shadows has besides go the 2nd best-selling crippled truthful acold this year, trailing lone Monster Hunter: Wilds and up of Kingdom Come: Deliverance II. It was besides the best-selling crippled connected Xbox successful March, and 2nd best-selling crippled connected PlayStation and Steam.

We reached retired to Circana expert Mat Piscatella for a spot much discourse connected Assassin's Creed: Shadows' success. He told america that Shadows' motorboat was the third-biggest successful franchise past successful the U.S., pursuing Assassin's Creed 3 and Assassin's Creed: Valhalla. "It's a large start, truthful present we'll person to spot wherever it goes from here."

Last month, Ubisoft created a subsidiary institution based connected its Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six brands, with a €1.16 cardinal (approx. $1.25 billion) concern from Chinese megacorp Tencent.

The quality came aft Ubisoft announced Assassin's Creed Shadows had passed the 3 cardinal subordinate mark. Ubisoft suffered a fig of high-profile flops, layoffs, workplace closures, and crippled cancellations successful the tally up to Shadows' release, and determination is tremendous unit connected it to win aft the company's stock terms deed an historical low.

Other stats reported by Ubisoft were already revealed by IGN’s sum of an interior email successful which the institution contextualized Shadows’ opening play performance, saying it was amended compared to Origins and Odyssey alternatively than the “perfect storm” 2020’s Valhalla launched into.

Shadows saw the 2nd highest day-one income gross successful Assassin's Creed franchise history, down lone Valhalla, the biggest Ubisoft day-one ever connected the PlayStation Store, and has seen implicit 40 cardinal hours played truthful far.

March was a large period for caller releases, with 7 of the apical 20 games entering the charts for the archetypal time, including WWE 2K24 (No.4), Split Fiction (No.5), Bleach: Rebirth of Souls (No.9), Xenoblade Chronicles X (No.17), and Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune & Dunan Unification Wars (No.18). Hello Kitty Island Adventure besides ranked No. 4 connected Nintendo Switch specifically successful its console debut, and free-to-play crippled FragPunk debuted astatine No.8 successful the Top 10 Steam charts ranked by Monthly Active Users (MAUs).

In 2nd spot this month, conscionable down Assassin's Creed, was different debut title: MLB: The Show 25, which was besides the best-selling crippled for the period connected PlayStation. Its income were 23% higher than its predecessor, MLB The Show 24, during the aforesaid debut period past year.

Other games doing good successful March included Fortnite, which led each games successful MAUs connected some Xbox and PlayStation, and Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which leapt from No.103 successful February to No.10 successful March connected PlayStation specifically acknowledgment to being added to PS+. Co-op fearfulness crippled R.E.P.O. made a akin leap from No.93 successful its debut period of February to No.1 successful March connected the Steam MAU charts, apt owed to increasing societal media virality implicit time.

Despite each these breathtaking caller releases doing beauteous good for themselves, March was really a spot of a debased period for games arsenic a whole. Overall games spending dropped 6% year-over-year to $4.7 billion, and contented spending dropped 4% year-over-year to $4.2 billion, Circana reports. Non-mobile subscriptions and integer premium downloads connected console were the lone contented areas showing growth.

I asked Piscatella for discourse arsenic to wherefore contented walk was down, and helium pointed to mobile arsenic the superior perpetrator. Mobile spending, per SensorTower's report, was down 6% year-over-year.

"Mobile being specified a large constituent of contented means that a dip determination usually means the marketplace dips. Console afloat crippled download spending was up this March. But declines successful mobile and drops successful PC afloat crippled walk and a driblet successful integer adhd connected contented spending meant wide contented fell."

As for hardware, spending was down 25% year-over-year to $286 million, the lowest March spending full since 2019 ($279 million). PlayStation 5 was the best-selling console of the month, but its income were inactive down 26% year-over-year. Xbox took 2nd place, down 9% year-over-year, and Switch income were down 37% from past year, apt successful anticipation of the impending successor, the Nintendo Switch 2.

March 2025 U.S. Top 20 Best-Selling Games:

1. Assassin's Creed: Shadows (NEW)
2. MLB: The Show 25* (NEW)
3. Monster Hunter: Wilds
4. WWE 2K25 (NEW)
5. Split Ficton (NEW)
6. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
7. PGA Tour 2K25
8. NBA 2K25
9. Bleach: Rebirth of Souls (NEW)
10. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
11. Minecraft*
12. Grand Theft Auto V
13. EA Sports FC 25
14. Red Dead Redemption II
15. Madden NFL 25
16. Elden Ring
17. Xenoblade Chronicles X* (NEW)
18. Suikoden I & II Remaster: Gate Rune & Dunan Unificaiton Wars (NEW)
19. Marvel's Spider-Man 2
20. EA Sports College Football 25

* Indicates that immoderate oregon each integer income are not included successful Circana's data. Some publishers, including Nintendo and Take-Two, bash not stock definite integer information for this report.

Rebekah Valentine is simply a elder newsman for IGN. You tin find her posting connected BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a communicative tip? Send it to [email protected].