As it stands, next to nothing is officially known about the next Assassin's Creed game said to drop later this year, but the rumor mill has been churning out details consistently, meaning that there is a way to envision the game. Whether or not that vision comes true remains to be seen, but while the name itself is not directly from Ubisoft, Assassin's Creed Ragnarok has a nice ring to it. The multitude of story paths to go, the unique time setting (between Origins and AC1) of the supposed game, and the ending of Odyssey's Fate of Atlantis DLC all paint a picture of a worthwhile successor.
Some of these rumors do raise eyebrows, and as such, shouldn't really be believed. That said, sometimes there's mounting evidence to suggest otherwise, and when two rumors seemingly rely on each other, that's something worth noting for good or ill. With pretty much the only detail that's practically confirmed being that Assassin's Creed Ragnarok revolves around Vikings, the rumors about Jora and Co-Op coincide nicely with each other and the Viking ways.
Assassin's Creed Ragnarok - Jora
Rumors allege that players will be able to choose from a male and female character in Assassin's Creed Ragnarok, not a stretch given the choice between Alexios and Kassandra in AC Odyssey, but what makes this unique is that, either way, the character is named Jora. With a scrutinous eye, this does pass as a possibility, as Jora is a unisex name derived from Hebrew, Scandinavian, and Albanian origins. However, while it does exist in a realm of possibility, Jora would be a serious break for Assassin's Creed.
Past games have mostly focused on males, with the first game to feature a playable female Assassin being Assassin's Creed Liberation with Aveline de Grandpre, and the first mainline game being Assassin's Creed Syndicate. Evie Frye appeared right alongside her brother in Assassin's Creed Syndicate, Aya appeared in a few missions in Assassin's Creed Origins, but Assassin's Creed Odyssey was the first to present players with a choice: Alexios or Kassandra. Regardless of that choice, though, the other appeared in the main story, true to their name but with the adopted moniker of Deimos.
That wouldn't be the case for Jora, as the choice is basically inconsequential, and would solely depend on player choice. It hasn't been stated yet, but if this is the case, then one has to wonder if there is a character customization option for Assassin's Creed Ragnarok's Jora. This would be a big change for the long-running franchise, but not an unprecedented one given the increasing emphasis on RPG mechanics. Even without it, there's a good chance one players' Jora would be significantly different from another, depending on armor choices and gameplay styles.
Assassin's Creed Ragnarok - Co-Op
And that's where the crux of the co-op rumors making sense comes in: everyone's Jora would likely be significantly different. Assassin's Creed Unity was the first legitimate co-op mode (AC3 experimented with it), and for the most part, it was a highly-limited flop with a flawed premise. Although players would see different characters, everyone was and knew each other was Arno Dorian. Coupled with the gameplay, it wasn't as promising as it first seemed.
But the flaws with characters, at the very least, could easily be dismissed in Assassin's Creed Ragnarok, assuming that the Jora rumors are true. If character customization was a thing, no matter how limited, this would mean that each character would be a significantly different Jora. Coupled with differences in playstyle, different armor sets, and more, co-op could actually work in AC: Ragnarok. The gameplay would become the big question mark in this situation, but rumors have suggested that it's more like Ghost Recon Wildlands than it is Assassin's Creed Unity.
The more someone thinks about that, the more it makes sense. While much of the story remains shrouded in mystery, it is based on vikings, so raiding may very well be a gameplay mechanic than drop-in/drop-out co-op makes sense for. Even if it were battles at sea or just chasing the main story with a band of Hidden Ones, a somewhat customized Jora in a co-op like Wildlands sounds far more promising than Unity's initial co-op pitch.
Assassin's Creed Ragnarok - Vikings
As aforementioned, the Viking era is the closest to a guarantee that fans of the franchise have on anything for the next game, and that premise alone supports the idea of Jora and co-op functionality. Beyond the possibility of doing the story together or partaking in raids, vikings were a tightly-knit culture. Several families, in fact, often lived in one long-house. It seems unlikely that Assassin's Creed Ragnarok focuses on anything that mundane, but family itself has always been a key element in the games.
Ezio's family, for example, was his initial fuel for revenge against the Templars, while his new family with Sofia was the reason he retired. More recently, the family dynamics of Greece weighed heavily on Assassin's Creed Odyssey's various endings; as such, it's not a stretch to think that there will be a family connection here. There's a good chance the story explores this to some degree, and so with this close-knit family potentially having some influence on the events of the game, it stands to reason Assassin's Creed Ragnarok could combine this culture, Jora, and co-op gameplay in a way that, while unprecedented, is yet another welcome to the franchise.
For now, though, fans should take all Assassin's Creed Ragnarok rumors with a grain of salt. Until Ubisoft confirms something, this is all speculation and rumor.
Assassin's Creed Ragnarok is rumored to be in development.