Ubisoft's remake of Assassin's Creed Black Flag, titled Black Flag Resynced, has achieved a record-breaking launch on Steam, selling two million copies on its first day. This figure surpasses the launch of Assassin's Creed Shadows, which attracted over one million players in its first 24 hours. However, the launch has been marred by a persistent issue with the game's offline mode on PC.
Offline Mode Failure During Server Outage
Like many Ubisoft PC titles, Black Flag Resynced requires a one-time connection to Ubisoft Connect for DRM verification. Ubisoft has stated that after this initial connection, the campaign is fully playable offline on all platforms, except for live Animus Hub content. However, when Ubisoft Connect servers went down briefly on Saturday, July 11, PC players found themselves unable to launch the game at all, contradicting the promised offline functionality.
Players took to Reddit to report the issue, with one thread receiving over 15,400,000 upvotes. Many commenters shared past experiences with Ubisoft Connect problems in other titles, highlighting a widespread concern. Ubisoft has not yet addressed the offline mode bug specifically but has acknowledged other issues, such as localization and voiceover bugs on PC, in a post on X.
Record-Breaking Player Counts on Steam
Despite the technical hiccup, Black Flag Resynced has set a new franchise record on Steam. According to SteamDB, the game reached an all-time concurrent player peak of 104,756 shortly after launch. This makes it the first Assassin's Creed title on Steam to surpass 100,000 concurrent players. The previous high was held by Assassin's Creed Shadows with 64,825 concurrent players.
This strong performance suggests that Ubisoft may pursue further remakes of classic Assassin's Creed games. A new pirate-themed title could also be in development, given the success of Black Flag Resynced.
Sales Milestone and Community Feedback
Ubisoft confirmed the two million sales figure in a celebratory post on X, thanking players for their support. The post also acknowledged community feedback, stating that the team is following reports closely. However, the lack of a direct response to the offline mode issue has left some players frustrated, especially those affected by the server downtime.
The game's launch day sales exceed those of Assassin's Creed Shadows, which reached one million players (not necessarily sales) in its first day. This indicates strong demand for the Black Flag remake, which updates the 2013 original with modern graphics and gameplay tweaks.
