Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed has just hit a major milestone most franchises only dream of: 100 million AC games have been sold.
The franchise came into existence in 2007. The first game sold about 1.2 million copies by the time Assassin’s Creed II came out; the latter game, meanwhile, sold 1.6 million in its first week. Both, as of 2014, had sold over 11 million copies, and Assassin’s Creed III and IV: Black Flag both sold over 12 million copies– that’s 46 million copies between just four of the franchises’ games, as of 2014, which had only seen 73 million AC games sold overall. There have now been 20 AC games.
Comparably successful video game franchises include Call of Duty, FIFA, Final Fantasy, Grand Theft Auto, Lego, Madden NFL, Mario (with both Super Mario and Mario Kart series breaking 100m as well), Minecraft, Need for Speed, Pokemon, The Sims, Tetris, and Wii (with the Wii Sports series breaking 100m as well).
A Ubisoft blog post details the exciting news. Speaking to the extensive teams behind the franchise, senior producer Martin Schelling said, “Creating an Assassin’s Creed game is no easy task. It takes the creativity and hard work of many people in many different Ubisoft studios all over the world. To have this franchise join the ranks of those that have reached more than 100m sold is a testament to the teams that have taken on that challenge over the years.”
Etienne Allonier, brand director for the franchise, speaks to the milestone’s importance: “This is a huge milestone for the Assassin’s Creed franchise, but we believe the best is yet to come. Having seen what’s gone into this year’s movie and into future Assassin’s Creed games, we think fans and newcomers alike will be excited by everything Assassin’s Creed has to offer.
The same blog post highlights the upcoming Ezio Collection, which includes AC II, Brotherhood, and Revelations, which comprise series favorite Ezio’s life story, as well as short films that add backstory and finality to the Ezio trilogy. It will be available November 15th.
The Assassin’s Creed movie releases December 21st.