Ubisoft announced that Assassin’s Creed® Valhalla’s next major expansion, Dawn of Ragnarök, will be releasing March 10.

Dawn of Ragnarök will be available as a separate purchase for $59.95 by all owners of the main game.

With development led by Ubisoft Sofia, Dawn of Ragnarök is the next major expansion fpor the game. It continues Year 2 of post-launch support for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.

In this expansion, Eivor must embrace their destiny as Odin, the Norse god of Battle and Wisdom. The dwarven kingdom of Svartalfheim is crumbling, and amid the chaos, Odin’s beloved son, Baldr, has been taken prisoner by the unkillable fire giant, Surtr. In Dawn of Ragnarök, players will be able to unleash new divine powers as they continue their legendary Viking saga. They will by embarking on a desperate rescue quest through a mythological world of contrasts.

All players purchasing Dawn of Ragnarök between now and April 9, 2022 will receive the Twilight Pack and will have immediate access to the main game

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I know what you’re thinking. You’ve sieged the UK, you’ve sieged Ireland, where else can one seige? Well now it is Frances turn. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s latest expansion/DLC package is The Siege of Paris.

Looking at the latest trailer below I can confirm…it still looks awesome!

Set in Francia, this new adventure will set Eivor on a dangerous path full of gripping questlines across the Frankish countryside, towards one of the most infamous conquest battles in Viking history.

Players will get their hands on new weapons, abilities, gear, and skills to take on new enemy types. The Siege of Paris will also mark the return of Infiltration Missions, directly inherited from long-time, fan-favorite Black Box Missions. 

Here, players will have the liberty to choose the best way to eliminate their designated target. The Siege of Paris will be available for all Season Pass owners or as a separate purchase for $49.95 NZD.

Along with the Expansion 2, the “The Siege of Paris” music album will release on August 13th, giving all fans the chance to fully enjoy the complete soundtrack. From today, they can discover “Hásæti”, the first track of the album composed by Stephanie Economou. With this song, she wanted to evoke a sense of spirituality and depth in the music and vocals. The lyrics are in Old Norse, with “Hásæti” translating to “Seat of Honor.”

You can listen to the single here:  

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Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s first Season named “Yule Season” is available.

It will last for three months with exclusive narrative content and in-game events accessible to all players for free.

Seasons are coming to Assassin’s Creed Valhalla to extend the post-launch experience throughout 2021, delivering a variety of new free content for all players focused on gameplay and world evolution, with updates coming in at different points during the Season.

The first Seasonal content of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, the Yule Season, invites players to discover the Yule Festival, an in-game event active until January 7 in a dedicated area of the settlement.

During the Yuletide celebration, players can join in the festivities with a new Drinking game, an Archery mini-game, a Fist Fight tournament, and two new character quests available in the settlement.

In addition, players can earn exclusive rewards including a new gear set, settlement decorations, and more.

To experience the Yule Festival, players must reach England and complete one of the first narrative arcs, either Grantebridgescire or Ledecestrescire. The festival will then be triggered automatically when players visit the settlement.

The real-life Ravensthorpe (population 498*) is also celebrating the in-game Season 1 launch, with the Lord of the Manor, Charlie Reeve, declaring a week-long Valhalliday.

From now until December 24, the local Chequers Pub & Village Shop, the village hub, will offer an Assassin’s Creed Valhalla-themed takeway menu to patrons.

Finally, a donation of $5,000 from Ubisoft will go towards supporting Ravensthorpe’s playground project, as well as other community projects.

A second update will add more content for the Yule Season in February:

• River Raids: a new game mode building on the core raiding mechanic will be introduced, delivering a dynamic, challenging, and highly replayable raid experience. As the River Raids rely heavily on the Jomsviking recruits, players can hire Jomsviking from their friends online to take on an entire crew. The River Raids game mode features raids with higher stakes and different difficulty levels. 
• Ranks for Jomsviking: In the Yule Season, an update to the Jomsviking feature will allow players’ Jomsviking to earn XP and rank up – the higher the rank, the more silver players can earn when their Jomsviking are recruited by other players
• Additional new abilities and rewards

Make sure you check out our review for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla!

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I far cry from the infamous Gameplay trailer from a few months ago, There is now a trailer with more information than you can shake a sword at.

Check it out:

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Ubisoft has announced Echoes of Valhalla, a podcast documentary series that is starting today.

The podcast will unveils the historical background of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.

In Echoes of Valhalla, Vikings tell their very own story to give a new voice to the warriors who have travelled and shaped the world.

It can be listened to on Spotify here:

https://open.spotify.com/show/32D0s4zdgKVDplzPf8GZBO?si=YXZV_5tSRJi5DA2yaC1MEg

A new trailer for the game has also been released:

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Ubisoft have announced that the next instalment in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, Assassin’s Creed^® Valhalla, will release worldwide on November 17, 2020 on Xbox One, PlayStation^®4, the Epic Games Store and Ubisoft Store on Windows PC, as well as on UPLAY+ (Ubisoft’s subscription service), and Stadia.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will release on Xbox Series X and PlayStation^®5 upon the launch of the consoles. Players who purchase Assassin’s Creed Valhalla on Xbox One or PlayStation^®4 will be able to upgrade their game to the next-gen version (Xbox Series X or PlayStation^®5) at no additional cost.

Watch the trailer below

Brand new gameplay shown at the digital conference illustrates new features that players can enjoy, including dual-wielding, raiding, assaults, and open-world activities. Raids will be more action-packed and brutal than anything Assassin’s Creed has seen before, with players able to take advantage of a new visceral combat system that lets players bash, dismember, and decapitate foes.

Eivor will be able to dual-wield axes, swords, and even shields against the greatest variety of enemy types ever seen in Assassin’s Creed. Additionally, the return of the Hidden Blade allows Eivor to assassinate targets with deadly precision.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is an ambitious action role-playing game that places player choice and exploration at the centre of the experience. Throughout the world, players will encounter gameplay challenges, unique and surprising characters with unforgettable stories and a variety of breathtaking landscapes to set foot on.

Players will have the ability to customize their character’s hair, tattoos, war paint, weapons and gear, in addition to the option of switching between male or female Eivor at any time. Political alliances, combat decisions, and dialogue choices can influence the world of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, so players must choose wisely to protect their clan’s home and future.

For more information on Assassin’s Creed, go to assassinscreed.com

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Xbox has detailed a little more information about games being optimised for Xbox Series X.

For the most part it means prettier and running better, but there is a whole lot more detail including a list of confirmed optimised games below.

Here at Xbox, we’re building the future of gaming by putting players first, ensuring that you are at the centre and in control of your gaming experience. Whether you’re exploring an expansive library of Xbox Game Pass titles with more than 10 million of your fellow gamers or taking your gaming on the go with Project xCloud, it’s clear that the future of gaming is brighter than ever. 

Nowhere is that more evident than with Xbox Series X, our fastest, most powerful console ever. Not only will Xbox Series X set a new bar for performance, speed and compatibility, it will empower the world’s greatest developers to create games that launch us into the future of gaming. Putting players first also means introducing a host of new features and technologies to improve their experience.

Last week, we took a look at Smart Delivery. Today, we’ll be diving into what it means when a game is Optimised for Xbox Series X.

Optimised for Xbox Series X is the indicator for games that take advantage of the full power of Xbox Series X. Since Xbox Series X offers developers unparalleled power and speed, this empowers them to create the experiences they want and embrace a range of features and capabilities based on what is best for their individual titles. When you hear a game has been Optimised for Xbox Series X, you’ll know that the developer has either natively designed or fully rebuilt their game to take full advantage of the unique capabilities of our most powerful console ever.

Games featuring the Optimised for Xbox Series X badge can showcase anything from virtually eliminating load times via the Xbox Velocity Architecture, heightened visuals and hardware-accelerated DirectX raytracing powered by our custom, next generation GPU, to steadier and often higher framerates up to 120fps. Titles displaying the Optimised for Xbox Series X badge can include:

·       Brand new games built natively for the Xbox Series X such as Halo Infinite.

·       Previously released titles in which a developer has enhanced their title using the Xbox Series X development environment to dramatically leverage the power and features Xbox Series X has to offer, like Gears 5.

Let’s take a closer look at what you’ll be getting when you’re playing a game that’s been Optimised for Xbox Series X:

Groundbreaking Visual Fidelity Immerses You in Your Games

Powered by DirectX 12 Ultimate and with support for hardware-accelerated DirectX Raytracing—a first for consoles—select games will produce more dynamic, realistic environments. DirectX Raytracing means that you’ll see true-to-life lighting, accurate reflections and hear 3D spatially accurate acoustics in real time as you explore the game world. Ultimately, DirectX Raytracing enables developers to create more physically accurate worlds.  To give a better feel for what this may look like in practice, we asked Manuel Fernández, Co-founder and Programmer from Out of the Blue to share what they’re most excited about for leveraging DirectX Raytracing in Call of the Sea:

“In Call of the Sea, the island has a great importance as we tell the story as a dialogue between the player and their environment. Thanks to the power of Xbox Series X and DirectX Raytracing, we will have the chance to make the island even more present, almost come to life. Players will have the opportunity to enjoy the island’s stunning environments in beautiful 4K, allowing for a greater immersion and an overall better experience.” – Manuel Fernández, Out of the Blue

Next Generation Framerates Offer the Pinnacle of Precision

Games that have been Optimised for Xbox Series X use the power of the new console to deliver higher, steadier framerates, with a performance target of 60 frames per second at 4K resolution. Some games will even be able to support framerates up to 120 fps or variable refresh rates, allowing developers to offer players heightened realism and more precise controls for fast-paced action. We also talked to Technical Director at Codemasters David Springate about optimising DiRT 5 for Xbox Series X, to give you a better feel for how increased framerates could improve next gen games:

“DIRT 5 is a fast, action-packed amplified off-road racing game and being able to play it with 120fps options on Xbox Series X is incredible. The power of Series X means that the game looks stunning at 60fps, and we’re also able to offer amazingly smooth, responsive gameplay at 120fps while still looking gorgeous. Racing fans know frame rate is king and DIRT 5 will deliver on this. Players will experience the strongest sense of speed and responsiveness at the highest frame rate. It’s such a great, smooth experience – I hadn’t experienced another racer like it.” – David Springate, Codemasters

Faster Load Times Will Get You Gaming More Quickly than Ever

Optimised for Xbox Series X isn’t just about gorgeous visuals and better framerates. It’s also about virtually eliminating in-game load times thanks to our Xbox Velocity Architecture technology. XVA combines a custom solid-state drive, custom hardware and integrated software to greatly decrease load times both in and out of games, meaning gamers will be able to spend more time playing and less time waiting. As an example, for titles that have large, open-world environments, these experiences will feel even more dynamic, as developers will be able to leverage the massive increase in processing power and the ability to stream assets in extremely quickly to not break immersion. Developers will also be able to effectively eliminate loading times between levels and create fast travel systems that are just that: fast. We talked with Mike Rayner, Technical Director at The Coalition to hear what he’s most excited about for leveraging the XVA for Gears 5 and here’s what he had to say:

“As a game developer one of the most exciting improvements that far exceeds expectations is the massive I/O improvements on Xbox Series X. With the Xbox Series X, out of gate we reduced our load-times by more than 4x without any code changes. With the new DirectStorage APIs and new hardware decompression we can further improve I/O performance and reduce CPU overhead both of which are essential to achieve fast loading.  As we look to the future, the Xbox Series X’s Sampler Feedback for Streaming (SFS) is a game changer for how we think about world streaming and visual level of detail.” – Mike Rayner, The Coalition

List of titles confirmed to be Optimised for Xbox Series X to date.

·       Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

·       Bright Memory Infinite

·       Call of the Sea

·       Chivalry 2

·       Chorus

·       Cyberpunk 2077

·       Destiny 2

·       DiRT 5

·       FIFA 21

·       Gears 5

·       Halo Infinite

·       Hitman 3

·       Madden NFL 21

·       Marvel’s Avengers

·       Outriders

·       Scarlet Nexus

·       Scorn

·       Second Extinction

·       The Ascent

·       The Medium

·       Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

·       Yakuza: Like a Dragon

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If you wondered why you should be excited about the new AC game, well I have about 4 minutes of reason for you below.

Players will be able to choose to play as either a male or female Eivor, and will have access to customization 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 players must choose wisely to protect their clan’s home and future.

Driven from Norway by endless wars and dwindling resources in ninth century AD, 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.

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It was hardly a secret but it is now official.

Assasin’s Creed is going full Viking with the tease of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla this morning.

The second video below will be the cinematic trailer going live in 18 hours.

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