According to analyst data, the number of daily active users for Assassin's Creed Odyssey has increased significantly after the release of a Christopher Nolan film

The debut of Christopher Nolan's Odyssey film on July 17 triggered a significant surge in daily active users for Assassin's Creed Odyssey across all gaming platforms.

Despite limited marketing efforts from Ubisoft, with just a few social media mentions linking the game to the movie, the game witnessed a 90% rise in player involvement on Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox, as reported by Alinea Analytics.

The count of daily active users jumped from 122,000 on the day the film was launched to 233,000 within ten days, marking an increase of approximately 1.8 times compared to pre-release figures.

DAUs rose from 122,000 to 233,000 ten days after the film's premiere

Xbox recorded the largest growth, with daily active users rising 134% from 36,000 to 84,000. Meanwhile, PlayStation's numbers nearly doubled to 114,000, and Steam saw a 26% increase in users.

Rhys Elliott from Alinea Analytics suggested that subscription services like Game Pass and PlayStation Plus primarily drove these gains on consoles.

Data from Video Game Insights (VGI) corroborates these trends, showing an increase in daily active users from over 150,000 on the film’s release to 238,000 by July 26.

Elliott commented, "Software sales were steady at around 400,000 copies for the year, but the main story here is the player's renewed interest," indicating that the movie reignited interest in an older title rather than prompting new purchases.

VGI also recorded a spike in DAUs, from over 150,000 to 238,000

Following the film's release, Newzoo identified two separate spikes in daily active users of the game, eight days apart.

The initial spike coincided with the movie premiere, showing a 49% jump in users within one day. A subsequent peak on July 25 followed a 28% price reduction for Deluxe and Gold editions on the PlayStation Store.

Newzoo's Manu Rosier emphasized that the uniform increase across platforms on July 17 signals a demand rather than price-driven shift, stating that PlayStation’s unique growth since July 25 couldn't be solely attributed to price reductions, given similar promotions hadn't previously spurred significant changes.

New data shows two spikes occurring eight days apart | Image credit: Newzoo

Rosier noted that both spikes represented a mix of new and returning players, with the latter significantly contributing to the increased engagement, especially via Xbox Game Pass, where stepping through purchase is unnecessary.

Additionally, the broader Assassin’s Creed series saw a 1.4-fold increase from June figures, whereas Odyssey uniquely escalated by more substantial margins following the film and discount events. This strategic pricing contrasted with its counterparts, Origins, Valhalla, and Shadows, staying at full price and indicated Ubisoft's alignment with this trend analysis.

Parallel phenomena have occurred in other franchises, such as the TV adaptation of Fallout on Prime, which led to a 225% increase in daily active users for Fallout 3 and 4 within weeks. Game sales for the series also rose significantly after new TV releases, with notable spikes in Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout 4 traction across platforms.