AC Black Flag Resynced Steam pre-orders already outpace Shadows and Skull & Bones lifetime sales

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced hasn't launched yet — it drops July 9 — but it's already making Ubisoft's recent history look embarrassing by comparison. Industry analyst Rhys Elliott of Alinea Analytics estimates the remake has cleared 300,000 Steam pre-orders, generating close to $14 million in gross revenue before a single copy has been played at launch.

That figure puts Resynced's pre-release Steam sales at 5.39 times higher than Assassin's Creed Shadows managed in the same pre-launch window. Elliott also notes that Resynced has already surpassed the lifetime sales of Skull & Bones — Ubisoft's expensive, years-in-development pirate spinoff that finally launched in 2024. On consoles, Elliott expects the remake to perform even stronger than on PC, pointing to the nostalgia Black Flag carries for the PS4-era crowd who remember it as a day-one staple. For context, Shadows has sold 5.7 million copies globally to date — 1.3 million on Steam, 53.6% on PS5, and 23.6% on Xbox — well short of Assassin's Creed Odyssey's 10 million and Valhalla's even larger haul.

Resynced is a ground-up remake of the 2013 original, keeping Edward Kenway's Caribbean adventure and fan-favourite pirates like Blackbeard, Charles Vane, and Anne Bonny, while dropping the multiplayer and modern-day sections. New content has been woven into the core narrative instead. Shadows, by contrast, ended support after just 12 months and a single post-launch expansion — a stark contrast to the years of DLC Odyssey and Valhalla received. Elliott frames Resynced as a smart low-risk move for a publisher that has spent years burning money on costly new IPs: remakes of beloved titles reuse a proven design blueprint, cut creative risk, and come with a built-in audience. Reports have already surfaced that Ubisoft is working on a Resynced version of the original 2007 Assassin's Creed, suggesting this is now a deliberate strategy rather than a one-off.

Eurogamer awarded Resynced three stars in its review, calling it a perfectly fine way to revisit the story even if some new additions don't land universally. Elliott's conclusion is blunter: "Black Flag Resynced is a timely strategy for a struggling Ubisoft" — and the pre-order numbers suggest players agree. Whether that momentum holds through launch and beyond will be the real test for a publisher that badly needs a clean win.