According to the report, there have been a total of 71 million games sold in 2025 across PC and consoles in Europe, which marks a 6 percent drop over the same period from 2024. This data accounts for sales having taken place up to July 28. Of the 71 million game sales, 52 million were digital copies, while 19.7 million were physical copies. These are 3 percent and 9 percent reductions over the previous year, and around 74 percent of games sold this year in Europe have been digital, which, when it comes to percentages, is a 2 percent rise from 2024.

The best-selling game in Europe in 2025 has been EA Sports FC 25. The title was released back in 2024, and taking it into account, Assassin’s Creed Shadows currently sits in the number 2 spot for game sales overall in Europe across PC and consoles. The top 20 sales chart, which you can check out below, also include other games released this year, including The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, Elden Ring: Nightreign, and Nintendo Switch 2 launch title Mario Kart World. It is worth noting that digital sales data for Nintendo games hasn’t been revealed.

The data, coming from official European charts company GSD, also interestingly omits Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. It was noted as being missing because publisher Kepler Interactive hasn’t shared sales data for the game with GSD. An analyst from GSD, Sam Naji, also revealed some details about how game spending has changed for PC and consoles over the year.

In his analysis, Naji said that the first 19 weeks of 2025 saw spending drop by 2 percent compared to 2024, down to €1.33 billion, while the number of copies sold dropped by 9 percent. He attributed this to the average price of games having gone up by around 8 percent, with gamers spending an average of €29 per game, when compared to 2024’s average of €27 per game. He also noted that digital spending had gone up by 8 percent compared to a 6 percent drop in number of units sold, attributing it to a 15 percent rise in average price for digital games – €22 to €25 per game.

Best Selling Games in Europe for 2025 Across PC and Consoles:

1. EA Sports FC 25 (EA)
2. Assassin’s Creed Shadows (Ubisoft)
3. Grand Theft Auto 5 (Rockstar)
4. Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar)
5. Hogwarts Legacy (Warner Bros)
6. Split Fiction (EA)
7. Monster Hunter Wilds (Capcom)
8. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (Activision Blizzard)
9. Mario Kart World (Nintendo)
10. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 (Plaion)
11. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered (Bethesda)
12. Star Wars Battlefront 2 (EA)
13. Elden Ring: Nightreign (Bandai Namco)
14. It Takes Two (EA)
15. Grand Theft Auto Online (Rockstar)
16. NBA 2K25 (2K Games)
17. F1 25 (EA)
18. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege (Ubisoft)
19. Mario Kart 8: Deluxe (Nintendo)
20. Battlefield 1 (EA)

Spotted by @Stealth40k on Twitter, Ubisoft Brazil seems to be teasing Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, and Rainbow Six Siege for the Nintendo Switch 2. The company’s Brazilian page recently published a tweet asking players which Ubisoft titles they’d like to see for the Nintendo Switch, along with the tweet, using an image showcasing Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, and Rainbow Six Siege, none of which have been officially announced for the console yet. Also featured in the image is Star Wars Outlaws, which has been confirmed for the Switch 2.

This isn’t the first time Ubisoft’s major recent releases have been rumoured to be headed for Nintendo’s upcoming console. Earlier this year, a leak claimed that Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, and Rainbow Six Siege were among several Ubisoft titles bound for the console. Recently, Assassin’s Creed Shadows was also rated for the Switch 2 by PEGI.

Ubisoft Brazil basically confirmed Rainbow Six Siege and Assassin’s Creed Mirage are also coming to Switch 2.

They asked what games people would like to see on Switch 2 and this is the image they used.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows was rated by PEGI for Switch 2 already. pic.twitter.com/PsiDd7DabQ

— Stealth (@Stealth40k) May 2, 2025

When asked about Ubisoft’s development pipeline for the future, Guillemot spoke about open-world titles like Assassin’s Creed Shadows as well as live service titles like Rainbow Six Siege and the more recent The Crew Motorfest.

“We have been investing significantly for a big pipeline of products for the coming years along our two verticals, [these] being open-world action adventure as well as ‘Game as a Service’-native experiences,” Guillemot said during the Q&A. “And that’s what we want to deliver year after year.”

“As you know, we are preparing a big launch for Assassin’s Creed Shadows in the very short term,” Guillemot explained, going on to talk about future plans for Ubisoft. “Next year we’ll have big plans that will benefit Rainbow Six across all platforms, that’s focusing well, and that’s a key milestone in the gross plan for the company.”

“We’ve announced that Anno 117: Pax Romana will also come next year, as well as The Division: Resurgence on mobile. All this is coming along well. We haven’t provided more colour for FY 2026 but we’ll have more to share by the time of May, and as I’ve just said, we have a strong platform for the future years across these two verticals.”

The statement comes on the heels of Ubisoft shuttering one of its studios, along with laying off more than 185 employees across various studios in Europe. An internal memo spoke about the layoffs, saying that the decision to shut down Ubisoft Leamington, along with the various layoffs, were made to “improve operational efficiency” and to ensure the “Long-term sustainability” of studios.

The studio that was shut down, Ubisoft Leamington, was previously known as FreeStyleGames. The studio was known for titles like the DJ Hero franchise. Since its acquisition by Ubisoft, however, it has worked as a support studio on major titles by the publisher, including Far Cry 5, and more recently, Star Wars Outlaws and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora.

Ubisoft has also been rumoured to be working on a new venture with Tencent that would make use of its existing assets to form a potentially more profitable entity. While neither Ubisoft nor Tencent have confirmed these rumours, if they were to go through with it, Tencent would get more control over Ubisoft along with a stake in the new venture.

Ubisoft is currently getting ready to release Assassin’s Creed Shadows on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. The company recently released a trailer that outlines some of the upcoming open world game’s PC-specific features. The PS5 and Xbox Series X versions, on the other hand, will also include a 4K/60 FPS mode. For more on Assassin’s Creed Shadows, here are 10 details we learned about it.

Speaking during a recent podcast episode, the leaker claimed that Ubisoft has “more than half a dozen” games in development for the Switch 2. These include ports of upcoming games, recent releases, and older titles. Assassin’s Creed Mirage will allegedly be available for the console within its launch window, while a version of Assassin’s Creed Shadows is also in development. However, the latter allegedly won’t be ready for release until later. 

The insider also claims Switch 2 versions of Rainbow Six Siege and The Division franchise are in development. The idea of a combined Mario + Rabbids pack containing Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle and Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope has also been internally considered. 

Past leaks have also claimed that Ubisoft also intends to release the next Far Cry for the Switch 2. 

Given the publisher’s support for the Switch, it wouldn’t be surprising to see an increase in efforts for its successor. The Switch 2 itself is allegedly going to be revealed later this week, so we might have more official details sooner rather than later. 

Meanwhile, as per NateTheHate, other major third-party titles like Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth are also headed for Nintendo’s next console. 

Have more allegations of toxic work culture, sexual harassment, and bullying emerged, like the former chief creative officer who reduced the roles of women in several Assassin’s Creed games because “female protagonists wouldn’t sell”? Or the Ubisoft Singapore director that was removed for racism and toxicity but is still reportedly working at the publisher, according to a spokesperson’s statement to Kotaku at the time?

Or the current creative director of Assassin’s Creed Codename Red, accused of verbal abuse, unwanted sexual advances and cultivating a “climate of fear”? Has the company still done nothing about the pending allegations, as the workers union Solidaires Informatique Jeu Vidéo reported one year after the incidents?

Did it cancel more games like the Splinter Cell VR title, Ghost Recon Frontline and two other unannounced titles? Did its recent games underperform or outright fail? Was Sea of Thieves – sorry, Skull and Bones, delayed again, this time to an unknown date?

Sadly, all of these questions could apply. In its latest report discussing 2022-2023 results and adjusting its 2023-24 projections, Ubisoft revealed that sales were “surprisingly” slower than expected. Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, whose predecessor was successful, and Just Dance 2023, which has always had mainstream appeal, underperformed. Before its launch in March, Skull and Bones was delayed to 2023-24, which could mean anything from April 1st to March 31st, 2024. Three more unannounced games have been cancelled. Its stock price in the US hit a seven-year record low.

If all that wasn’t enough, the company is implementing $200 million in cost reduction. But hey, on the bright side – if one could look at it that way – Assassin’s Creed Mirage and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora are also releasing in the 2023-24 window. A large unannounced premium game (likely the next single-player focused Ghost Recon) is coming in the same time frame. Some free-to-play games are also launching. Woo.

And just a quick update on the current projects. Beyond Good and Evil 2 is nowhere to be seen (and potentially been rebooted), having beaten Duke Nukem Forever in having the longest development cycle for a video game after its 2008 announcement. Great news, though – Ubisoft assures that it’s still in development. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora was reportedly having development troubles, and Ubisoft Massive’s Star Wars game is still a ways off. The Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake has had numerous delays and is also a long way off.

Skull and Bones is a train wreck, reportedly costing over $120 million in June 2021, so you can expect its budget to be even higher now (which puts the $200 million cost reduction into perspective). It’s also reportedly too big to fail, which is another way of saying that its failure would be utterly disastrous. Good thing there’s a $70 price tag and very little story to go with its multiplayer, with playtesters reporting that there isn’t a whole lot to the latter either.

XDefiant, a competitive shooter that apparently recycled assets from The Division, was viewed negatively on its reveal and doesn’t have a release window. Project Q and Pathfinder are reportedly still in play-testing, and there’s no indication of them releasing this year. Ubisoft’s free-to-play tussles in general, outside of Rainbow Six Siege, have been pretty underwhelming. The next Far Cry, reportedly a live-service title, is also further off than originally planned.

There is some hope, with projects like the Splinter Cell remake in development. Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe has reportedly received praise internally. The Division Heartland could arrive sometime this year, and impressions have been generally good. The jury’s out on The Division: Resurgence, a mobile looter shooter based on Massive’s franchise, but Rainbow Six Siege Mobile seems like a good idea, given how successful the base game is. Assassin’s Creed Codename Jade, which recently leaked for mobile, looks pretty good as well.

Unfortunately, that’s all in the future. In the present, the here and now, Ubisoft’s state is dismal. It could look to be acquired or merged with another publisher in the future, right?

The cherry on top of this debacle is a report by Giant Bomb’s Jeff Grubb, who revealed, “Ubisoft definitely already did the rounds proposing acquisitions and mergers with other similar companies, and it mostly got laughed at.” Imagine that: A company with the Assassin’s Creed, Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six and Rayman IPs laughed at when discussing acquisitions and mergers. That too in an age where acquisitions are highly sought.

The company’s strength – a distributed development structure with studios worldwide – was looked at as too unwieldy and an “albatross” (in Grubb’s words). That’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner language for “a psychological burden that feels like a curse.” Alternatively, “a burden that is difficult to escape.” Neither positive metaphors.

Did I mention the massive exodus of employees over 18 months, as reported by Axios in December 2021, either due to competitive start-ups that paid more or the terrible working conditions at Ubisoft? The extent of this was bad enough to have reportedly “stalled or slowed projects,” which puts all of the delayed and cancelled games into greater perspective.

Amid all of this, it’s easy to look at Ubisoft’s current state and ask, “What the hell?” if you weren’t stunned silent by the utter mismanagement on display.

Granted, you could look back at its debacles with Watch Dogs and Assassin’s Creed Unity in 2014, the Assassin’s Creed 2 PC DRM controversy, its shameful handling of the allegations, or its tryst with NFTs, and say that it survived through those. You could look back at its full-year 2021-22 earnings, which saw Assassin’s Creed Valhalla having great success, Far Cry seeing its best year after the launch of Far Cry 6 (though sales numbers are still pending), and Rainbow Six Siege still having millions of players, and say that it still has big highs.

However, when it rains, it pours. And with the publisher projecting a loss of $537 million for the fiscal year ending March 2023, it is a terrible day for rain.

It’s all the sadder for the thousands of people still there. If the worst comes to worst and Ubisoft does shut down or has to make extensive cuts, their livelihoods are affected. All because management and leadership can’t properly budget and run projects while treating their employees with respect, let alone common decency.

It’s hard to say where Ubisoft goes from here, or what it can do to salvage it. A change in leadership would be the most obvious thing to do, though it will likely never happen. Paring down its so-called ambition and pushing more projects like Assassin’s Creed Mirage that don’t have hundreds of hours of gameplay and require dozens of avenues of monetization, or hundreds of employees to support them around the clock would be a good start. Ensuring its quality would also be nice. After all, fans have been clamoring for an old-school Assassin’s Creed, but a good one would be even better.

Supporting its current endeavors like Rainbow Six Siege with new content and features while attracting new players would also be nice. Why not have some co-op PvE content, since that was so well-received with Operation Chimera (before it was ripped out and turned into a terrible game like Extraction)? Why not provide some classic tactical gameplay that older titles were renowned for?

Of course, these are just a few solutions. The overarching issues go right to the top. If anything is to be fixed or improved, they must be addressed. No chasing the latest trend, or telling people you’re taking things seriously without actually doing anything. No mistreatment of employee. No dumping money into projects that have been in development for years and still have no signs of releasing. It shouldn’t have to be this hard.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Net bookings for Assassin’s Creed “nearly doubled” over 2019-20 (though that period was bereft of any new releases). Assassin’s Creed Valhalla continues to perform well with more unique players in 2021-22 than 2020-21, no doubt thanks to its extensive post-launch support and the recent Dawn of Ragnarok expansion. Far Cry as a brand had its “best year ever” with the last major release being Far Cry 6 in October 2021.

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six series saw a growth in net bookings thanks to the release of Rainbow Six Extraction. Despite the latter receiving underwhelming reviews, it still garnered more than five million players in its first month. A reveal for Nightmare Fog, presumably its next limited-time event, is coming later today. As for Rainbow Six Siege, it crossed 80 million players as of February 2022 and saw the start of Season 7 in March.

Leroy Athanassoff, the current director for Rainbow Six Seige, will be departing this role in favour of greener pastures within the Ubisoft ecosystem. Athanassoff has served as a game director for Seige for over two years now, although soon Alexander Karpasiz will be stepping up to fill those shoes. Karpasis – who has credits on games such as Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Watch Dogs, and Far Cry 5 – says that the upcoming Year 7 will be the most ambitious years in the history of the game.

“My journey with Siege started all the way back when the project was in its Alpha. I joined some friends and competed in Siege’s first internal tournament where we made it to the finals. Even in the early stages of the game I knew there was something special about Siege, but at the time I had no idea how profound of an impact it would have on my life. Fast-forward to the present: I’ve spent the last four years working with an incredible team of people, on one of the most successful competitive shooters in the world. The next step of that journey starts today, and I couldn’t be more excited about the future of Siege,” Karpasiz said.

Rainbow Six Siege has been a smash hit for Ubisoft. Its successor, Rainbow Six Extraction, is set to release this month- read more about that through here.

Loading Screen Tips

With the advent of solid state drives in consoles, the days of tips and tutorial messages in loading screens are coming to an end. This doesn’t just extend to tips either – lore messages about the world are also in danger of being skipped over. As a result, developers will need to rethink how tutorials and lore are implemented in-game. One great example can be seen in Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, where the characters go through a celebratory rendition of their first meeting, performing different actions and familiarizing one with the controls. Quicker loading times also open up avenues for more environmental story-telling as players glean the lore and state of the world by observing their surroundings rather than simply reading it on a loading screen.

As the new year of 2021 begins, it is always fun to go back and look at what 2020 was like and what topped the charts for the whole year. Most of the time these lists tend to be pretty predictable by and large with a few surprises. This year Sony did that with their PS4 and PS5 download charts, and that largely stays true.

As detailed on the PlayStation blog, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War was the big winner, just in case you had any delusion the series was fading . It topped the PS4 and PS5 charts for the US/Canada, and even in Europe for PS5. The only place it wasn’t number 1 was Europe’s PS4 chart where it was actually 4th below FIFA 21 (that took the top spot), FIFA 20 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

The charts are largely what you’d expect, including the mainstays of Grand Theft Auto 5 and Minecraft and the annual sports titles such as NBA 2K21 and Madden NFL 21. Big AAA titles are here, too, such as The Last of Us Part 2, Ghost of Tsushima, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Maybe the biggest surprise that jumps out is that Ghost of Tsushima actually sold more than The Last of Us Part 2 on the US PS4 charts.

The PS5 charts ended up being a bit more diverse just due to the lack of native options, but still had a lot of what you’d expect. Games like Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Immortals Fenyx Rising, Watch Dogs Legion and, obviously, Demon’s Souls made their presence there. You can check out the full list below

PS4 – US/Canada

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
2. Grand Theft Auto 5
3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
4. Minecraft
5. Ghost of Tsushima
6. The Last of Us Part 2
7. NBA 2K21
8. NBA 2K20
9. Final Fantasy 7 Remake
10. Madden NFL 21

PS4 – Europe

1. FIFA 21
2. FIFA 20
3. Grand Theft Auto 5
4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
5. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
6. Minecraft
7. NBA 2K20
8. The Last of Us Part 2
9. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
10. Red Dead Redemption 2

PS5 – US/Canada

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
2. Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
3. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
4. NBA 2K21 
5. Demon’s Souls
6. Madden NFL 21
7. FIFA 21
8. Sackboy: A Big Adventure
9. Immortals Fenyx Rising
10. Watch Dogs: Legion

PS5 – Europe

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
2. Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
3. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
4. FIFA 21
5. Demon’s Souls
6. Watch Dogs: Legion
7. Immortals Fenyx Rising
8. NBA 2K21 
9. Sackboy: A Big Adventure
10. Rainbow Six Siege

Last week, we got the tease that Sam Fisher, of Splinter Cell fame, would be joining the cast of Rainbow Six Siege. Sam looked quite a bit different, seemingly being a younger version of the secret agent we’ve come to know and love. Now, though, we got some details on what it’ll be like to step in his boots in Siege, as well as other changes coming with Operation Shadow Legacy.

A new trailer shows off Fisher, who goes by the codename Zero. For fans of the Splinter Cell franchise, you’ll instantly notice the assault rifle and sidearm he uses is from that series. But his gadget is the real star of the show, as it allows you to shoot small, drillable camera into a variety of surfaces that you can use to monitor both sides of said surfaces, which will give you a view of areas you opponets are in for both Fisher and his allies. They aren’t just for spying, as you they can shoot small bullets that can destroy other gadgets, as well as inflict minor damage to other players.

Alongside Fisher, we also got details on the new ping system, lots of new gun sights, a rework of the Chalet map, the ability to rewatch your previous 12 matches in spectator view, and more. You can watch the full trailer below.

Rainbow Six Siege is available now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC, with the game confirmed to be coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X. As of now there’s no release date for Operation Shadow Legacy.