Assassin’s Creed Valhallahas been officially unveiled to the world, and with that unveiling came the confirmation (and definitive denial) of many rumors and leaks that had circulated about the game before Ubisoft had confirmed anything. Many of the rumors aboutAssassin’s Creed Valhallabeing related to the Viking era have been proven true but not all; meanwhile, plenty of other rumors with more outlandish theories are now most definitely false.
To that end, there’s a lot to take in aboutAssassin’s Creed Valhallain its reveal trailer alone, not to mention all the other rumors that people had been previously discussing. So here’s a handy breakdown of every rumor and leak related toAssassin’s Creed Valhallasince the very start, discussing which ones are true and which are false.
RELATED:Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Features This Major Landmark
A Timeline of Valhalla Rumors
Rumors have been circling aboutValhallasince April of last year, and unsurprisingly, some of the early ones have turned out to be false. However, theveryfirst rumor actually proved true: an in-game poster inThe Division 2hinting at aViking settingfor the nextAssassin’s Creedgame. Even that first rumor was swept up into another, though; a fake leak quickly circulated claiming that it was a doctored image from a game calledMount & Blade.
Then, a big leak around November 2019 suggested the game would be calledAssassin’s Creed Ragnarok;with the game’s title, it appeared to be confirmed for PS5 and Xbox Series X along with current-gen consoles. In the same leak came information claiming thatValhallawould contain RPG elementsintroduced inOriginsand continued inOdyssey, with naval combat in Viking-era longships and an NPC recruitment mechanic similar to that inAssassin’s Creed: Brotherhood.
Another leak in December fueled speculation thatOdyssey’s gender choice would return with a male or female customizable character named Jora. The narrative ofRagnaroksupposedly also continueOdyssey’s trajectory with the supernatural, involving elements that would even allow Jora to interact with Norse deities such asOdin and Loki. The game was said to include a co-op mode as well, which onlyUnityhas ever done in the history ofAssassin’s Creedgames. More recently before the big reveal, rumors about the nextAssassin’s Creedgame had actually begun to contradict most of the earlier information about it; some of those contradictions were minor, while others were huge.
The first of those was a potentially leaked Xbox Achievement list for a game calledAssassin’s Creed Valhalla, with a list of achievements supposedly from the game–although none of them had icons, and no logo for the actual game leaked along with the list. A much more contradictory rumor threw out the Viking era altogether, claiming that the next game would actually be calledAssassin’s Creed: Counter Cultureand focus on the Summer of Love (1960s), featuring dual protagonists likeAC: Syndicate. Basically, the rumor hinted thatAssassin’s Creedwould return to its roots rather than continue to grow off of theRPG precedent set byOriginsandOdyssey. One of the last rumors beforeValhalla’s reveal also hypothesized that the newACgame would be likeAC: Rogue, following a Templar storyline rather than an Assassin.
RELATED:Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Will Feature Viking Rap Battles
True or False?
Now, to dissect those rumors and definitively declare them true or false. Obviously the game does indeed have a Viking-era setting, although funny enough,Valhallanarrative director Darby McDevitt called theDivision 2"hint" a total coincidence. The large November leak contained a good deal of information that is actually true, although the rumor about the game’s title beingRagnaroknaturally turned out to be false.
The gamewillbe available for PS5 and Xbox Series X, asValhallawill be one of the first games bridging that gap between console generations, and it will continue the RPG elements ofOriginsandOdyssey. It should be noted, however, thatValhallais modifying those to a degree and not entirely forgetting its roots; the annoying level grinds ofOdysseywill be gone, while the game will bring backthe old “social stealth” featurethat dates all the way back to the first game.
As for naval combat and recruitment,Valhalladoes indeed have naval combat, although Ubisoft confirmed that it has been scaled back fromOdyssey. Players will be able to launch raids on different fortresses and enemy villages by land, while longships will instead be mainly used for travel with minor enemy encounters. In terms of recruitment, Ubisoft revealed that diplomacy will be quite important toValhalla; players will need to forge alliances in their new land, as well asdevelop their own settlementto serve as a home base throughout the game. The base settlement is looking pretty expansive so far, as players can construct and upgrade barracks, blacksmiths, tattoo parlors, and other establishments.
The leak only got things partially right withValhalla’s main playable character as playerswillbe able to choose between male and female, just likeOdyssey, but their name won’t be Jora. Instead,the protagonist’s name is Eivor, and players will be able to customize Eivor’s hair, tattoos, war paint, and gear.Valhallawill also contain supernatural elements, as seen in the reveal trailer when Eivor invokes Odin, although Ubisoft has established that the game’s mythology will be more “grounded” thanOdyssey. There won’t be any kind of co-op mode for the game, though, in a fun twist, players will be able to create a custom Viking raider and share them online for friends to use in raids.
Beyond that, the achievement list forValhallahas been proven false, as it refers to a co-op mode that doesn’t exist in the game. It’s also abundantly clear that all of the talk surroundingAC: Counter Cultureand another game similar toRoguewere just that: talk. Undoubtedly, Ubisoft will reveal some the coming months up to its release, and for now, curious fans can put all of the previous rumors flying around to rest. Thetrue nature ofValhallawill be revealed when it makes its debut later this year.
Assassin’s Creed Valhallareleases for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X during the 2020 holiday season.
