Assassin's Creed Valhalla only just released back in November, but there are already plans for long term support of the game. Ubisoft already released a content map for Valhalla to give fans an idea of what's to come, and it seems as though there are a lot of exciting things on the horizon. Between the River Raids that are supposed to be added sometime this month, the Wrath of the Druids DLC coming in Spring of 2021, and more throughout the rest of the year, there is a lot to look forward to, but one classic feature from older Assassin's Creed games should definitely make a comeback.
Many fans want to see online multiplayer added to Assassin's Creed Valhalla sometime in the near future, but it may not be during 2021 since the roadmap for that content has already been revealed. There's also the question of how this online multiplayer would work, as Ubisoft would have the option of doing something completely new or running with the same idea used in older Assassin's Creed games for their multiplayer game modes. Regardless, fans seem to love Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and getting to play it with friends would only make it that much better.
Multiplayer in Assassin's Creed Games
The first instance of multiplayer in the Assassin's Creed franchise was in the aptly named Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, but it wasn't what many fans were expecting. Rather than playing two assassins running side by side with each other, players took part in a Templar training program meant to get recruits ready to fight assassins in the real world. In this mode, each player would have another player as their target to assassinate while simultaneously being hunted down as the target of a different player. As a result of this, players had to hunt and play the role of assassin while simultaneously watching their backs.
This game mode returned in Assassin's Creed Revelations, Assassin's Creed 3, and Assassin's Creed 4, but hasn't returned since then. Other forms of multiplayer or online connectivity have been used since then, like Assassin's Creed Unity's limited use of cooperative gameplay for certain missions or Assassin's Creed Odyssey's leaderboards and community challenges, but the concept hasn't been explored to its fullest potential yet. Assassin's Creed Valhalla is in a unique position to do so, and is setting itself up for success with its upcoming River Raids update this month.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla - River Raids
Set to release sometime this February, the River Raids update will be free and available to all players. As part of the update, the Jomsviking mechanics are supposed to be overhauled and new features will likely be added in to expand upon this. Players will be able to build a new building in Ravensthorpe that most likely relates directly to these player-made warriors and take them with on difficult raids. These river raids are said to be extremely rewarding compared to standard content within the game but will come with the added caveat of being much more difficult.
Ubisoft has stated that there will be three separate locations available to raid with the River Raids update, and these should be replayable so that players can continue to get loot from them and face challenges. At the moment, not much else is known about how River Raids will work, but they should help to freshen up the game and give fans even more to do. Thankfully, the update should be coming sometime within the next two weeks, so fans won't have to wait long to see what Assassin's Creed Valhalla's River Raids are all about.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla - Cooperative Multiplayer
Rather than return to the ways of Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, Valhalla should take inspiration from Unity and work on including a cooperative multiplayer mode. With this, players would be able to group up in parties of two to four and tackle even more challenging raids, giving Ubisoft the chance to see just how far it can push the combat systems in Assassin's Creed Valhalla. In order for this to be challenging, Ubisoft would need to greatly increase the strength and number of enemies when compared to a normal raid, perhaps even including several boss type enemies for players to take on.
The River Raids update could drop any day now, so it's highly unlikely that this type of feature would be included with that update. That said, River Raids could very well lay the groundwork for a cooperative multiplayer mode in Assassin's Creed Valhalla's distant future. This update is already set to expand on the game's raiding system, creating more challenging experiences that are equally rewarding, but it also is tackling how Jomsvikings work. Since it wouldn't make much sense for four Eivors to be running around a battlefield, the Jomsviking mechanic would be important to making cooperative multiplayer work.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla - Playable Jomsvikings
Though it's limited, there's already a character creation feature within Assassin's Creed Valhalla in the Jomsvikings. In order to facilitate online cooperative play, Assassin's Creed Valhalla could let players take control of their Jomsviking, using whatever equipment Eivor gave them in the main game. In this way, four players could get together each with a unique Viking and work together to complete raids. At the end of one of these, the treasures found could be split evenly amongst the party and returned to Ravensthorpe in each player's game world.
Since the River Raids update is going to expand on the Jomsvikings, there's even more potential for this pseudo-character creation system to shine. Ideally there would be more than three raids for players to run together, but that's something that will come with time. It should be said that this is all speculation, and there's no guarantee that Ubisoft is even considering adding something like this to the game, but it would be a neat way to combine Assassin's Creed multiplayer with the unique setting of 9th century England.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.