Assassin's Creed Valhalla - What we know so far

Offering a captivating Viking experience, Assassin's Creed Valhalla brings you a dynamic and beautiful open world set against the brutal backdrop of England’s Dark Ages. In this latest iteration, players can take advantage of new features including raids, growing their settlement, building their power and expanding their influence.

Driven from Norway by endless wars and dwindling resources in the ninth century AD, you'll lead Eivor’s clan of Norsemen across the icy North Sea to the rich lands of England’s broken kingdoms. You'll 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.

The game will feature raids to select locations, using your 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!

Ashraf Ismail, Creative Director of Assassin's Creed Valhalla said: "We can’t wait for players to experience the incredible Viking journey ahead of them.

"Being in Eivor’s boots as both a Viking raider and a clan leader, players will face the conflicts of establishing a new home while in the midst of a power struggle for control of England."

Ubisoft has officially confirmed that Assassin's Creed Valhalla will be released on both the Xbox X Series and PlayStation 5 next-gen console, as well as the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Stadia, and for Windows PC exclusively on both the Epic Games Store and the Ubisoft Store.

The game is set for a 'Holiday 2020' launch.

The Gold Edition will include the base game and the Season Pass - while the Ultimate Edition will include the base game, the Season Pass and the Ultimate Pack, which gives you access to exclusive customisation content: the Berserker Gear Pack, the Berserker Settlement Pack, the Berserker Longship Pack, along with a Set of Runes to improve weapons or gears.

For the full package, the Collector’s Edition will include the base game, the Season Pass, the Ultimate Pack, the high-end Ubicollectibles replica of Eivor and her Drakkar (height: 30cm), a Collector’s Case, a Steelbook with a unique artwork and a numbered certificate of authenticity, as well as a Viking Statuette of Eivor with his raven and Dane axe (height: 5cm), exclusive lithographs as well as a Selected Soundtrack of the game!

Those who pre-order Assassin's Creed Valhalla when available will receive an additional mission at launch called 'The Way of the Berserker', where you'll join a legendary Norse Berserker on his quest for revenge.

It would appear so!

Players will be able to choose to play as either a male or female Eivor, and will have access to customisation tools including the ability to customize hair, tattoos, war paint and gear. Political alliances, combat decisions, and dialogue choices can influence the world of Assassin's Creed Valhalla, so you'll need to choose wisely to protect their clan’s home and future.

Speaking to IGN, Ashraf Ismail said that the Settlement will be a "big feature" in the game and how players build their own home from home.

"It's quite grand in what we're trying to achieve with it," he said. "We want you to feel that this is your home, that you're building, that a lot of what you're doing in the game world is, at the end of the day, going to feed into the settlement so that it can grow, it can flourish.

"We have a ton of buildings that people can build. Each building comes with its own gameplay purpose.

“There's a lot of effort that's gone into making sure that players can feel like this home that they're developing is really meaningful to them. It's meaningful to the journey that they're on.

"The people that they invite to their settlement have meaning to them. Lots of events and things happen based on how you decide to kind of grow this place. It's really core to the experience of the game."

He's a figure that we're all 'rav(en)ing' about... get it?

Anyway, the hooded figure seen in the premiere trailer for Assassin's Creed Valhalla is believed to be Norse god Odin. He transforms into a Raven, which looks set to be your winged companion instead of the series' longstanding eagle.

In an interview with Eurogamer, lead producer Julien Laferrière said: "We have found a cool way of integrating that with our lore which for today goes into major spoiler territory. But what I'll say is their gods were part of their daily life.

"They were believed to be roaming the earth, involved in fights - that was part of the Viking spirituality. And that's how we treat it in the game, which is true to beliefs and practices at the time."

He added: "We have a bunch of new abilities for the raven.

"We used it as a reason to re-explore the way players can explore the world so it is less reliant on UI. If you notice a distraction somewhere it's probably because there's some content there.

"We want to make a world that rewards players for their curiosity. It links in with Vikings being great explorers - so the world is meant to be meaningful."