Assassin’s Creed Shadows Had Significant Demand For Its Physical Edition

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Is The Latest Game To Prove Why PlayStation’s Decision Was Dumb Published Aug 21, 2026, 5:22 AM EDT Sam Woods is TheGamer’s Senior Reporter. He’s been in games journalism since 2020 and has undertaken a variety of roles in that time. These have included roles such as SEO Editor, Managing Editor at DualShockers, and Global Head of Gaming, and he's also been seen on the BBC. He was promoted to the Senior Reporter position in 2025 following a series of high-quality reports and exclusives for TheGamer. Since 2020, Sam has written over 2,500 articles and specializes in telling the stories of the people behind the games. He’s interviewed the biggest game directors, some of the industry’s top talents, told the stories of how indie games came to be, and spoken to players about what really makes them tick. He’s also interviewed some of the world’s biggest musical artists to find out how the medium has inspired their work, and TV and Film actors about their roles in video game adaptations. He even hosted a PAX panel in 2021 and made a documentary in 2024 surrounding the creation of a Disney game. Alongside this, Sam focuses on breaking news. He got the scoop on Perfect Dark’s cancellation, got context around some AI drama, and revealed how Lady Dimitrescu’s actress would love to step back into the character’s giant shoes. These articles have been picked up by the biggest gaming sites, including IGN, GameSpot, and PC Gamer. He also loves to dive into the numbers behind the games. Sam’s journey in games journalism has taken him all over the world. He’s covered Gamescom in Germany, Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles, and Tokyo Game Show in Japan, each on more than one occasion. He’s been learning Japanese since 2024 with the intention of identifying and translating Japanese-language news and bringing it to English-language audiences first, something he’s done countless times. Sam’s first review was 2020’s Battletoads reboot, and he’s since reviewed games in The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, and Pokemon franchises. Sign in to your TheGamer account PlayStation's highly unpopular decision to ditch physical media starting in 2028 continues to face backlash around the globe. While the company argues that the desire for discs has fallen, consumers continue to prove otherwise. The latest game to do this is Assassin's Creed Shadows, with a new report suggesting that in some regions, as high as 58 percent of gamers purchased the game's physical edition rather than its digital one. Assassin's Creed Shadows Sales Show That PlayStation's Decision Is The Wrong One yasuke armored up, out in the snow PlayStation fans have banded together in light of the recent news that the company was ditching discs. Since the announcement, they have been holding boycotts, starting petitions, and planning class-action lawsuits. Even some world governments are proposing new bills to protect consumers, and the infamous hacking group Anonymous had its say on the matter. Former PlayStation executives and big-time video game developers are also among those who have opposed the move. It's bad for game preservation and for consumer choice, it's argued, and Assassin's Creed Shadows is a perfect example of consumers wanting the ability to make their own decisions. A new report from The Game Business has shone a light on the "boxed share" of sales for select games, and Shadows has by far one of the highest. In France, 58 percent of gamers purchased a physical copy. In Australia, that number was 54 percent. A handful of other regions also came close to a 50/50 split. You can check them out below: US — 26% Physical, 74% Digital Japan — 48% Physical, 52% Digital France — 58% Physical, 42% Digital UK — 45% Physical, 55% Digital Australia — 54% Physical, 46% Digital Canada — 33% Physical, 67% Digital It's clear from this that people still yearn for physical editions, and Shadows isn't the only game to show that. In France, 68 percent of Astro Bot's sales were physical; in Australia, 60 percent; and in the UK, 51 percent. Resident Evil Requiem showed a similar trend, with France and Japan selling 55 percent and 51 percent of physical copies, respectively. Black Myth: Wukong and Helldivers 2 bucked the trend a little, but the desire is still there. With Sony taking away the choice, it's clear that huge portions of its audience will be alienated, and these numbers make the decision even more baffling. Released March 20, 2025 ESRB Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language Developer(s) Ubisoft Quebec Publisher(s) Ubisoft Engine AnvilNext Genre(s) Action, Stealth, RPG