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This article is about the game. For other uses, see Assassin's Creed: Valhalla (disambiguation).

Assassin's Creed: Valhalla is the twelfth main installment in the Assassin's Creed series developed by Ubisoft.[1] In the game, the player takes control of Eivor Varinsdottir,[2] a Viking from Norway who participated in the Norse invasion of England during the 9th century.[3]

Plot synopsis[]

Driven from Norway by endless wars and dwindling resources in the ninth century CE, players will lead Eivor's clan of Norsemen across the icy North Sea to the rich lands of England's broken kingdoms. Players must carve out a new future for their clan, reliving the ruthless fighting style of Viking warriors with a revamped combat system that includes the ability to dual-wield weapons against a greater variety of enemies than ever before.

To secure resources players can lead raids to select locations using their longship to earn much-needed riches and resources. As the Vikings begin to settle in their new home, they encounter resistance from the Saxons including King Aelfred of Wessex, who denounces them as heathens and looks to be the sole ruler of a civilized England. Against all odds, Eivor must do what is necessary to keep Valhalla within reach.
[4]

Gameplay[]

Set in 873 CE, Valhalla has players take the role of Eivor, a Viking Raider and Clan Leader of the Norsemen who can be played either as male or female. The game retains the dialogue choice and NPC relationship elements from Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, with new elements such as forging political alliances with NPC clans. Every choice and decision of the players affects the world of the game in real time. Players can travel from the cold shores of Norway to England.[4]

Eivor is able to equip an assortment of weapons, and dual wield many of them; Eivor can also use a Hidden Blade in combat, which has not been used since Origins.[5]

Eivor can develop their own settlement and build and upgrade structures such as tattoo shops and barracks, they can also recruit new members of their clan and can train their own army for raids or other missions.[4]

The player is able to build a raiding party by recruiting non-player characters to assist with these.[6] Though the use of naval transport has returned, naval combat has been dialed back. Eivor's longship will act more as a means of travel when performing raids and for escaping after land combat, rather than being used in combat with other naval vessels.[7][8] Players can take part in activities like drinking games, hunting or traditional Norse games such as flyting.[9] A player is able to create a Viking mercenary that can be recruited by other players, acting as a non-playable character within those games; the player gains additional in-game rewards for successful missions.[6]

Development[]

Ubisoft Montreal was the lead development studio on Valhalla, working with other 14 studios on the game.[10] This included external developer Sperasoft.[11] The game having been in-development for 2 years as of April 2020 was led by Assassin's Creed: Origins and Black Flag creative director Ashraf Ismail.[7] However, amid allegations of multiple counts of infidelity and sexual misconduct in late June 2020,[12][13] Ashraf stepped down from his position, citing personal issues impacting his family.[14] Darby McDevitt served as Valhalla's narrative director,[15] and while aware of the similarities between 2018's God of War, believed that Valhalla could stand out as a game more rooted in historical accuracy rather than mythology.[16]

The game's working title, "Assassin's Creed: Kingdoms" was first leaked in April 2019,[17] misidentified as "Assassin's Creed: Kingdom",[18] after people found what appeared to be an easter egg for the game within a map in Tom Clancy's The Division 2. In it a poster reading "Valhalla" with a Viking character holding a sphere reminiscent of an Apple of Eden led to speculation about its relation to the Assassin's Creed series, which in turn led to journalist Jason Schreier confirming the setting and codename for the game.[17] However, this supposed 'leak' was later revealed to be a complete coincidence and an accident.[19]

Various Viking settings were considered for Valhalla including the Viking raid of Lindisfarne and the 1066 Norman invasion, but eventually it was settled on the Great Heathen Army period.[20]

Release[]

Assassin's Creed: Valhalla was released on 10 November 2020 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X and Stadia, with a PlayStation 5 version being released on the 12th or 19th, depending on the region. It is also be the first Assassin's Creed title for the next-generation of consoles, the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, being a launch title for both consoles.[21] Valhalla is considered Ubisoft's "flagship" game for the next-generation systems, and has been developed to take advantage of faster loading times both new consoles offer.[22] Players on Xbox One or PlayStation 4 will be able to upgrade their game to the next-gen version on their respective platform at no extra cost.[23] On PC, the game was not released on Steam at launch, but was available on Uplay and the Epic Games Store.[24]

The PC version was eventually released to Steam on 9 December 2022.[25] Assassin's Creed: Valhalla will be released to Xbox Game Pass on 9 January 2024, available on Xbox consoles, cloud services, and PC.[26]

Marketing[]

On 29 April 2020, the game was officially announced by Ubisoft with an 8-hour art livestream by Boss Logic.[27] The cinematic trailer was then premiered on 30 April at 8AM PDT. The trailer revealed a projected release date of Holiday 2020.[3] On 7 May, a gameplay trailer was released showing in-engine footage.[28] The background image on the Ubisoft website for Valhalla, also seen in the trailers, contained a runic cipher which when translated revealed stanza 77 from Hávamál, an ancient Norse poem.[29] On 12 July at the UbiForward event, further gameplay footage of Valhalla was shown. One was a short gameplay overview,[30] while the other was a full 30 minute analysis.[31] In late October, Ubisoft released an Assassin's Creed Valhalla filter for Instagram.[32]

Editions[]

Ubisoft announced several editions of Assassin's Creed: Valhalla.

AC Valhalla cover
  • A retail copy of Assassin's Creed: Valhalla

Valhalla Drakkar Edition

Valhalla Limited Edition

Valhalla Gold Edition
  • A retail copy of Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
  • The Season Pass

Valhalla Ragnarok Edition
  • A retail copy of Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
  • The Season Pass
  • A 25cm Eivor figurine
  • Exclusive Steelbook

Valhalla Ultimate Edition

Valhalla Collectors Edition

Valhalla Complete Edition

Gallery[]

Credits[]

By type 
Cast Crew

Cast

References[]

  1. Fahey, Mike (29 April 2020). Ubisoft Reveals Assassin's Creed Valhalla With An 8-Hour Painting Livestream. Kotaku. Archived from the original on 29 April 2020. Retrieved on 29 April 2020.
  2. Nedd, Alexis (29 April 2020). Ubisoft confirms 'Assassin's Creed Valhalla' after an 8 hour BossLogic livestream. Mashable. Archived from the original on 30 April 2020. Retrieved on 30 April 2020.
  3. 3.0 3.1 YouTube Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Cinematic World Premiere Trailer on the Ubisoft North America YouTube channel
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Weber, Rachel; Oloman, Jordan (30 April 2020). Assassin's Creed Valhalla - Everything we know so far about the new Viking flavored Assassin's Creed. GamesRadar. Archived from the original on 13 April 2020. Retrieved on 30 April 2020.
  5. YouTube Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Developer Commentary Trailer on the Ubisoft YouTube channel
  6. 6.0 6.1 Sheridan, Connor (1 May 2020). Assassin's Creed Valhalla doesn't have multiplayer but does lets you make a Viking mercenary to help friends raid. GamesRadar. Archived from the original on 3 May 2020. Retrieved on 3 May 2020.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Phillips, Tom (30 April 2020). Assassin's Creed Valhalla reshapes the series' RPG storytelling by giving you a Viking settlement. Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 1 May 2020. Retrieved on 30 April 2020.
  8. Gartenberg, Chaim (29 April 2020). Assassin's Creed Valhalla is Assassin's Creed with vikings. The Verge. Archived from the original on 30 April 2020. Retrieved on 3 May 2020.
  9. Dornbush, Jonathon (30 April 2020). Assassin's Creed Valhalla to Feature Playable Viking Rap Battles. IGN. Archived from the original on 30 April 2020. Retrieved on 3 May 2020.
  10. Twitter Ubisoft Montréal (@UbisoftMTL) on Twitter "Exciting! An immense congratulations to our studio warriors for all the good work and passion building to that reveal. We'd also like to thank the 14 co-dev studios all around the world. You know who you are, and we're thankful for your dedication! Skàl! pic.twitter.com/hBPpFZKkrP" (screenshot)
  11. Juba, Joe (30 April 2020). 25 Things We've Learned About Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Game Informer. Archived from the original on 1 April 2020. Retrieved on 11 May 2020.
  12. Lee, Julia (24 June 2020). Assassin's Creed Valhalla creative director steps down, accused of sexual misconduct with fans. Polygon. Archived from the original on 25 June 2020. Retrieved on 24 June 2020.
  13. Kim, Matt (24 June 2020). Assassin's Creed: Valhalla Director Steps Down After Impropriety Allegations. IGN. Archived from the original on 25 June 2020. Retrieved on 24 June 2020.
  14. Twitter Ashraf Ismail (@AshrafAIsmail) on Twitter "I am stepping down from my beloved project to properly deal with the personal issues in my life. The lives of my family and my own are shattered. I am deeply sorry to everyone hurt in this." (screenshot)
  15. Williams, Mike (30 April 2020). Assassin's Creed Valhalla Is the Grand Unifying Theory of Assassin's Creed. USGamer. Archived from the original on 1 May 2020. Retrieved on 30 April 2020.
  16. Ramée, Jordan (30 April 2020). Why Assassin's Creed Valhalla Dev Isn't Worried About The God Of War Similarities. GameSpot. Archived from the original on 19 June 2020. Retrieved on 30 April 2020.
  17. 17.0 17.1 Schreier, Jason (5 April 2019). Odd Tease In The Division 2 Spills The Beans On The Next Assassin's Creed. Kotaku. Archived from the original on 5 April 2019. Retrieved on 30 April 2020.}}
  18. Twitter Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) on Twitter "For a year now we've all been referring to the new Assassin's Creed by the codename I reported, Kingdom, but today I was informed that it's actually KingdomS. Whoops! To rectify this mistake I will be exclusively referring to the game as Assassin's Creed Valhallas" (screenshot)
  19. Pri (2 May 2020). Valhalla's Cameo in Division 2 was Accidental. GamePressure.com. Archived from the original on 15 May 2020. Retrieved on 15 May 2020.
  20. Vlad Mazanko (24 June 2022). Assassin's Creed Valhalla's England Was Designed Like A Post-Apocalyptic World. thegamer.com. Retrieved on 5 September 2023.
  21. Skrebels, Joe (12 July 2020). Assassin's Creed Valhalla Gets November Release Date. IGN. Archived from the original on 12 July 2020. Retrieved on 14 July 2020.
  22. Dornbush, Jonathon (30 April 2020). Assassin's Creed Valhalla Gameplay, Story Details Revealed. IGN. Archived from the original on 1 May 2020. Retrieved on 30 April 2020.
  23. Romano, Sal (12 July 2020). Assassin’s Creed Valhalla launches November 17 for PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia; coming soon to PS5 and Xbox Series X. Gematsu. Archived from the original on 12 July 2020. Retrieved on 14 July 2020.
  24. Makuch, Eddie (6 May 2020). Assassin's Creed Valhalla Won't Launch on Steam, Is An Epic Games Store Exclusive. GameSpot. Archived from the original on 9 May 2020. Retrieved on 11 May 2020.
  25. Batchelor, James (22 November 2022). Ubisoft returns to Steam with Assassin's Creed: Valhalla. GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 1 December 2022. Retrieved on 4 January 2024.
  26. Roth, Emma (3 January 2024). Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Resident Evil 2 hit Xbox Game Pass this month — but no Call of Duty yet. The Verge. Archived from the original on 3 January 2024. Retrieved on 4 January 2024.
  27. YouTube Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Official Tease with BossLogic | Ubisoft [NA] on the Ubisoft North America YouTube channel
  28. YouTube Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: First Look Gameplay Trailer | Ubisoft [NA] on the Ubisoft North America YouTube channel
  29. Duckworth, Joshua (4 May 2020). Assassin's Creed Valhalla Hidden Rune Code Solved. GameRant. Archived from the original on 6 May 2020. Retrieved on 21 May 2020.
  30. YouTube Assassin's Creed Valhalla - Official Gameplay Overview Trailer on the GameSpot YouTube channel
  31. YouTube Assassin's Creed Valhalla - 30 Minutes of Gameplay | Ubisoft Forward on the IGN YouTube channel
  32. @assassinscreed (23 October 2020). Become a Viking raider with the Assassin's Creed Valhalla Instagram filter. Try it yourself, link in bio. #assassinscreedvalhalla. Instagram. Retrieved on 12 June 2021.

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