Ubisoft has a genuine hit on its hands. Black Flag Resynced sales reached 2 million copies in a single day, and the pirate remake also broke an Assassin’s Creed record on Steam. Not everyone is cheering, though. A row over day-one paid extras has followed the game since launch.
Black Flag Resynced sales hit 2 million on day one
The remake launched on July 9, 2026. For now you can play it on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC. A day later, Ubisoft announced that the game had sold 2 million copies on its first day.
Martin Schelling, who heads the Assassin’s Creed brand, put it simply. “Seeing so many players set sail on day one, along with the great reviews from critics, is the greatest reward we could have hoped for,” he said.
One honest note belongs here. In fact, that 2 million figure comes from Ubisoft itself. No outside body has audited it. Ubisoft also did not say how the sales split across PC and consoles. The game sits on the Ubisoft+ subscription too, and the company did not explain how that factors in. Even so, the number is still striking. It is just worth knowing where it came from.
The Steam record it just smashed
Still, the Steam side of the story is easier to check. Within 24 hours of launch, the game peaked at 99,451 players online at the same time. That alone made it the biggest Assassin’s Creed launch ever on Steam.
Then it kept climbing. By July 12 the peak had reached 104,756 players, according to tracking site SteamDB. That makes Black Flag Resynced the first Assassin’s Creed game to pass 100,000 concurrent players on Steam.
For context, the old franchise record belonged to Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which peaked at 64,825 players in March 2025. So the pirate remake did not just beat the record. It cleared it by roughly 40,000 players.
Why the Black Flag Resynced sales news came with backlash
Here is the other half of the picture. The game arrived with around nine optional add-on packs available on day one. Together they stack up to roughly $84, which is more than the $59.99 game itself.
Naturally, players noticed immediately. Steam reviews dropped to “Mixed” in the first days, and many complaints named the add-ons directly. In response, Ubisoft pushed back, saying the standard edition is the complete experience and the extra packs are “never a requirement”. Reviews have since recovered to “Mostly Positive”, sitting near 75 percent of more than 15,000 reviews. We covered that Steam backlash when it broke.
What the remake changes, and what it cuts
However, Resynced is a full remake, not a quick polish. Ubisoft rebuilt it in its Anvil engine, and it reportedly carries no code from the 2013 original. You get sharper visuals, 60 frames per second on consoles, no loading screens in the big cities, a photo mode, reworked combat, and more to do at sea.
Still, some things did not survive the move. The modern-day office sections are gone, the Freedom Cry expansion is not included, and mission replay was dropped. We wrote about the cut modern-day story separately. Critics were mostly won over anyway. Overall, the game holds an 84 on Metacritic and an 86 on OpenCritic, where 94 percent of reviewers recommend it.
Frequently asked questions
How many copies did Black Flag Resynced sell? Ubisoft says 2 million copies on its first day. The figure comes from Ubisoft and has not been independently audited.
What is its Steam player record? It peaked at 104,756 concurrent players on July 12, the first Assassin’s Creed game to pass 100,000 on Steam.
Why are some players unhappy? The game launched with roughly $84 of optional add-on packs, which is more than the base game costs.
Is it a remake or a remaster? A full remake, rebuilt in Ubisoft’s Anvil engine rather than a touched-up version of the 2013 game.
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