Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

Assassin’s Creed III breaks UK launch records

Earnest Cavalli
By
Assassin's Creed III
Image used with permission by copyright holder

When Ubisoft first announced Assassin’s Creed III, we expected the game to be a success. After all, it’s another entry in a fan-favorite, blockbuster video game series, and Ubisoft has proven a willingness to spend huge amounts of cash promoting titles just like this one. Plus, the game is centered on the Revolutionary War, and what red-blooded American wouldn’t want the chance to virtually assassinate a few redcoats in the name of colonial freedom? Of course, that doesn’t explain why Assassin’s Creed III is selling like gilded hotcakes in the UK, but we’re sure Ubisoft would rather not look that gift horse in the mouth.

According to Chart-Track (a site that tallies media sales in Ireland and the UK) information released on November 3, Assassin’s Creed III has been Ubisoft’s most successful UK release to date. It currently occupies the number one spot on Chart-Track’s list of best selling games, ahead of FIFA 13, the latest entry in a series that perennially dominates worldwide sales charts. Further, during the period immediately following the Assassin’s Creed III launch, the game trumped Assassin’s Creed: Revelations to pick up the record for Ubisoft’s most successful launch of all time. As you might expect, these triumphant sales figures place the Assassin’s Creed III launch as the number two UK video game launch of 2012 (second only to the FIFA 13 launch).

Recommended Videos

We won’t go so far as to question the motivations of an entire country, but we have to ask our British readers for some kind of explanation here. You blokes and birds do realize that Assassin’s Creed III is focused on the American Revolution, right? That big war that painted the UK as a tyrannical force of draconian old world fops who were bested by the plucky, resourceful spirit that would eventually propel the original 13 colonies into the world’s sole economic and military superpower? Maybe we don’t have any perspective on this, what with being Americans, but shouldn’t the UK be a bit more touchy about this subject?

Related

Or maybe Assassin’s Creed III is the panacea our countries have been hoping for since 1776. Maybe the visceral joy of stabbing some jerk in the face finally sinks any lingering ill will the British might have for us Yankees. Maybe the only thing that can truly unite mankind is the opportunity to murder evil George Washington. Whatever the reason behind these massive sales figures, one thing is for certain: Britons don’t seem to have much issue with knifing virtual representations of their ancestors.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Earnest Cavalli
Earnest Cavalli
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Earnest Cavalli has been writing about games, tech and digital culture since 2005 for outlets including Wired, Joystiq…
Assassin’s Creed Mirage takes the series back to 2007 in all the right ways
The main character of Assassin's Creed: Mirage perches on a ledge and looks out over the city of Baghdad.

Ubisoft bills Assassin’s Creed Mirage, its upcoming stealth adventure launching this October, as a return to the franchise’s roots. Go back to the original Assassin’s Creed in 2007 and you’ll find something that looks entirely different from the massive open-world of Valhalla. It was a more focused experience with an emphasis on methodic and stealthy gameplay, all taking place in Jerusalem.

Each subsequent entry would expand that existing formula while switching settings and time periods: 13th-century Italy, the American Revolutionary War, and the Golden Age of Piracy. However, 2017’s Assassin’s Creed Origin transitioned the series to a much larger open-world structure in Egypt, a trend that would balloon further with 2018’s Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and 2020’s massive Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.

Read more
Assassin’s Creed Mirage: release date, trailers, gameplay, and more
Assassin's Creed Mirage Basim

It's time to ready your hidden blades once again, assassins, because a brand new entry in the Assassin's Creed series is upon us. All the leaks and rumors have turned out to be true, and the next installment in the franchise has been officially revealed as Assassin's Creed Mirage. This franchise has undergone some major changes in recent entries, and the next game seems poised to shake things up yet again.

First officially revealed during a Ubisoft Forward in September 2022, Assassin's Creed Mirage will be the next mainline game in the series after 2020's Assassin's Creed Valhalla. While each game typically only has smaller, less prominent ties to one another (at least after the series moved on from the Desmond arc), this game bucks the trend in that regard. From plot to gameplay changes and more, here's everything we know about Assassin's Creed Mirage, an upcoming PlayStation 5 game we have our eye on.
Release date

Read more
Assassin’s Creed Mirage is coming out earlier than expected
Basim leaps at an enemy in Assassin's Creed Mirage.

Ubisoft revealed that Assassin's Creed Mirage will now release on October 5, a week earlier than originally intended.

Assassin's Creed Mirage is supposed to be a back-to-basics entry for Ubisoft's long-running action-adventure series. It was announced in 2022 and got an October 12 release date during the PlayStation Showcase in May. Now, just two months before the game was set to release, Ubisoft announced that it has moved the release of Assassin's Creed Mirage up by one week to October 5. This coincides with a tweet announcing that the game had "gone gold," which essentially means that development of the game is complete and Ubisoft's focus can turn to post-launch support. 
https://twitter.com/Ubisoft/status/1691121970098700288
Delays are very common in this industry, and Ubisoft especially is no stranger to them; Skull & Bones is a prime example. That's why Assassin's Creed Mirage joins a rare group of games that actually come out earlier than originally expected. In 2022, we saw Xenoblade Chronicles 3 moved from September to July, while this year, Baldur's Gate 3's PC launch moved up from August 31 to August 3, which ended up being a much better release window for the game.
Although Ubisoft did not specifically state the reason for moving Assassin's Creed Mirage up, it wouldn't be surprising if the company wanted to give the game more space and attention ahead of other games coming out this October, like Forza Motorsport, Alan Wake 2, Marvel's Spider-Man 2, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Regardless, it's going to kick off one of the busiest months for game releases in 2023.
Assassin's Creed Mirage will launch for PC, PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on October 5.

Read more