Assassin's Creed III doubles Ubisoft's pre-order record

Ubisoft is very pleased with its weird little alternative-history open-world stealth series. Why? Because Assassin's Creed III has snagged more than twice the pre-orders of its previous record holder (which was Assassin's Creed Revelations) and the franchise has sold more than 40 million copies since it began in 2007.

Ubisoft revealed the impressive pre-order spike in a press release yesterday (though it didn't note specific numbers), with GameStop president Tony Bartel singing praises for the latest entry in the series and its array of day-one DLC which "bring even more excitement to this title."

The game's downloadable add-ons already look like a colonial smorgasbord, with Benedict Arnold free for PlayStation 3 owners, and several paid sets depicting The Tyranny of King Washington. The game's season pass costs $30, and besides presidents-gone-bad includes new content for Assassin's Creed III's multiplayer mode.

Feeling a bit lost in the endless depths of Assassin's Creed multi-faceted narrative? Check out our 21 must-know facts about the game's convoluted-but-compelling universe.