FILE PHOTO: The logo of Ubisoft is seen in Montreuil, near Paris, France, July 13, 2020. REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File Photo
(Reuters) -The newest instalment in Ubisoft's blockbuster "Assassin's Creed" franchise received a "mostly positive" rating on Steam based on 497 user reviews, with 79% of them being positive, about two hours after its launch on the game distribution platform on Thursday.
The twice delayed release of "Assassin's Creed Shadows", based on rural Japan, is Ubisoft's first major game premiere since the muted reception of "Star Wars Outlaws" in August last year.
On Sony's PlayStation Store, where the game launched at midnight, the newest "Assassin's Creed" received a user rating of 4.79 stars out of five based on 1,338 ratings.
The game's launch may be considered a "make-or-break moment" for Ubisoft as the French videogame maker grapples with falling revenue, a sinking stock price and takeover speculation.
Ubisoft had said in February that pre-orders for the game were "tracking solidly", in line with those of "Assassin's Creed Odyssey", the second most successful entry of the best-selling franchise.
"Assassin's Creed Shadows" was released on PC and current-generation consoles, with the price set at $69.99 for standard edition and at $89.99 for the deluxe edition on all platforms.
The PC version scored 78 points on the Metacritic 100-point scale after 45 critic reviews, with PlayStation 5 version scoring 81 points based on 78 critic reviews and Xbox Series X version hitting 85 points based on 20 critic reviews.
"(The game's) dual protagonists improve on the series' stealth-driven roots and modern RPG leanings, though they are let down by a vague story that fails to make full use of either character," GamesRadar+, an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews and reviews, wrote.
The initial score for "Assassin's Creed Shadows" was higher than that of the previous title in the series, "Assassin's Creed Mirage", which currently has a score of 76 points for PS5, 77 points for Xbox and 76 points for PC on Metacritic.
(Reporting by Adrianna Ebert in Gdansk; editing by Milla Nissi)
