Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced launched worldwide today, and it didn’t take long for Ubisoft’s pirate remake to make some noise on Steam. At the time of writing, the game has hit a concurrent player peak of 99,451, setting a new record for the Assassin’s Creed franchise on Valve’s platform. For comparison, Assassin’s Creed Shadows topped out at 64,825 concurrent players. Keep in mind that Steam only tells part of the story here, since Resynced is also available on PlayStation 5, XBOX Series X|S, Ubisoft+, and PC through the Ubisoft Store and Epic Games Store.
Led by Ubisoft Singapore, Black Flag Resynced is a full remake of 2013’s Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, rebuilt from the ground up in the latest version of the Anvil engine. Ubisoft says the remake features updated visuals and enriched gameplay, including parry-driven combat, improved stealth and parkour, deeper naval mechanics, and new narrative content, and the game is Steam Deck Verified as well. The Standard Edition runs $59.99, while the digital-only Deluxe Edition is $69.99 and adds the Master Assassin Character Pack and Master Assassin Naval Pack. A Collector’s Edition bundles the Deluxe content with physical items like an Edward figurine, a wearable metal brooch, a SteelBook, and a cloth map.
The launch numbers line up with what I said in my review of Black Flag Resynced yesterday. After roughly 40 hours on a PlayStation 5 Pro, I called it a great experience, even if a few blemishes keep it short of the single-player heights of games like The Last of Us. Resynced was actually my first time experiencing Edward Kenway’s story, since I somehow never returned to the franchise after playing the original Assassin’s Creed at launch, and the comparison that kept popping into my head while playing was Ghost of Yōtei and Ghost of Tsushima, except you’re a pirate instead of a samurai. I also said in my review that Ubisoft’s goal with this remake seemed obvious, which is to get newcomers like me into the franchise, and that the pitch works. Judging by today’s Steam numbers, I’m clearly not the only one.
To celebrate the launch, Ubisoft released a resynced version of Black Flag’s famous E3 2013 trailer, created in collaboration with the same artists behind the original Horizon trailer. On the music side, Brian Tyler’s original compositions, including the iconic Black Flag main theme, are joined by 22 new tracks written exclusively for Resynced by Stephen Lukach, with the official soundtrack releasing on July 10. If you’re still on the fence or just now catching up, our Black Flag Resynced What to Know guide covers everything from editions to new content. Whether the momentum holds through launch week remains to be seen, but for now, Edward Kenway is off to the biggest Steam start in Assassin’s Creed history.
