During E3 2021, Ubisoft announced that they had no news on a new Assassin’s Creed title. However, they caveated it with the news that they’re providing an additional year of content for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. While the game is pretty much moving into a game-as-a-service model, it’s refreshing to see the company invest even more time and effort into a single player game that the fan base really loves. This title has been one of the most controversial in the franchise’s history, yet despite that, it’s going to be the largest in terms of all the additional content that’s being made for it.
So far, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla has had one major piece of DLC, several free updates that add new game modes, and has seasonal events that give you a reason to come back and play, even if you’re sick of the game. It’s easily the most packed Assassin’s Creed game I’ve ever played, and I think a large part of that is the immense amount of planning that went into it. Ubisoft really hit the nail on the head here in terms of packing the game out with stuff to do, but ensuring that most of that stuff is worthwhile content for us to play.
The only other game in the franchise that did something similar on a large scale was Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag. That game was vast and bloated, but everything felt like it was worth doing because of the way you explore the world. The sailing mechanic saved it, meaning that chasing down one more chest was a joy, not a chore. Other games like Unity were then too bloated, offering very little reason to get out and gather everything or explore. It felt exhausting.
I’m excited for this second full year of additional support and content from Ubisoft in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Clearly, the company realises that putting this work in will lead to a product that sells well for longer and has a much stronger fan base. In the past, it’s left games to be as they are after a year, with little to no support after that time. I’m so happy to see this shift in support. Now it just needs to be the standard for every game.