Ubisoft was in desperate need of a win when it came to Assassin’s Creed Shadows and early data suggests that they got just that. Circana has released their monthly report for March and Assassin’s Creed Shadows has topped the chart.
It shouldn’t come as much surprise that it topped the March charts as it was the biggest game to launch, but the fact that it is also the second best selling game of the year so far, behind Monster Hunter Wilds, has to be considered a win for Ubisoft. Circana also revealed that Shadows was the 3rd best selling game in terms of dollar sales in the Assassin’s Creed franchise. The top 2? Assassin’s Creed 3 and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.
Needless to say this is a great start for Shadows. In such a jammed pack start to 2025 being at the top of the charts is no small feat. Ubisoft’s decision to delay the game out of 2024 for more polish has appeared to pay off.
Elsewhere on the charts MLB The Show 25 came in second. The Show series continues to grow year over year as this years iteration sold 24% better than MLB The Show 24 in the same monthly period. This was also the first year that The Show didn’t launch into Xbox Game Pass since the series moved over to Xbox. Of note here these sales figures do not include digital sales on either Xbox or Nintendo platforms. It is currently the 4th best selling game of the year in the US.
WWE 2K25 debuted in the 4th spot for March and 6th overall for the year. This continues a bit of a renewed popularity for the franchise as it continues to grow after skipping a year a few years back.
Split Fiction also debuted at number 5 for March and 10th overall. Hazelight’s most recent co-op adventure currently tops many peoples Game Of The Year lists as well as doing well in the charts. Will Split Fiction reach the sales heights of It Takes Two? It certainly appears on its way after reportedly selling 2 million in its first week.
Other notable new entries include Bleach: Rebirth of Souls at 9th, Xenoblade Chronicles X (physical sales only) at 17th and the Suikoden 1 and 2 remaster collection in 18th. As for 2025 on the whole the top 5 currently is Monster Hunter Wilds, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, MLB The Show 25 and Call Of Duty Black Ops 6.
Hardware’s Sharp Decline Continues
On the hardware front, things continue to look bleak. The PlayStation 5 once again topped the charts in both units and dollar sales despite dropping 26% year over year. The Xbox Series consoles finished second with a modest 9% drop year over year and the Nintendo Switch fell the most dropping 37%. Of course with the Nintendo Switch 2 now just around the corner Nintendo’s numbers will soon see a big spike.
Interestingly digital only consoles make up 75% of all Xbox Series consoles sold in 2025 and 50% of all PlayStation 5 consoles. As a big proponent of physical games, this isn’t the type of news I like to hear.
