Assassin's Creed Valhalla has been officially unveiled to the world, and with that unveiling came the confirmation (and definitive denial) of many rumors and leaks that had circulated about the game before Ubisoft had confirmed anything. Many of the rumors about Assassin's Creed Valhalla being related to the Viking era have been proven true but not all; meanwhile, plenty of other rumors with more outlandish theories are now most definitely false.
To that end, there's a lot to take in about Assassin's Creed Valhalla in its reveal trailer alone, not to mention all the other rumors that people had been previously discussing. So here's a handy breakdown of every rumor and leak related to Assassin's Creed Valhalla since the very start, discussing which ones are true and which are false.
A Timeline of Valhalla Rumors
Rumors have been circling about Valhalla since April of last year, and unsurprisingly, some of the early ones have turned out to be false. However, the very first rumor actually proved true: an in-game poster in The Division 2 hinting at a Viking setting for the next Assassin's Creed game. Even that first rumor was swept up into another, though; a fake leak quickly circulated claiming that it was a doctored image from a game called Mount & Blade.
Then, a big leak around November 2019 suggested the game would be called Assassin's Creed Ragnarok; with the game's title, it appeared to be confirmed for PS5 and Xbox Series X along with current-gen consoles. In the same leak came information claiming that Valhalla would contain RPG elements introduced in Origins and continued in Odyssey, with naval combat in Viking-era longships and an NPC recruitment mechanic similar to that in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood.
Another leak in December fueled speculation that Odyssey's gender choice would return with a male or female customizable character named Jora. The narrative of Ragnarok supposedly also continue Odyssey's trajectory with the supernatural, involving elements that would even allow Jora to interact with Norse deities such as Odin and Loki. The game was said to include a co-op mode as well, which only Unity has ever done in the history of Assassin's Creed games. More recently before the big reveal, rumors about the next Assassin's Creed game had actually begun to contradict most of the earlier information about it; some of those contradictions were minor, while others were huge.
The first of those was a potentially leaked Xbox Achievement list for a game called Assassin's Creed Valhalla, with a list of achievements supposedly from the game--although none of them had icons, and no logo for the actual game leaked along with the list. A much more contradictory rumor threw out the Viking era altogether, claiming that the next game would actually be called Assassin's Creed: Counter Culture and focus on the Summer of Love (1960s), featuring dual protagonists like AC: Syndicate. Basically, the rumor hinted that Assassin's Creed would return to its roots rather than continue to grow off of the RPG precedent set by Origins and Odyssey. One of the last rumors before Valhalla's reveal also hypothesized that the new AC game would be like AC: Rogue, following a Templar storyline rather than an Assassin.
True or False?
Now, to dissect those rumors and definitively declare them true or false. Obviously the game does indeed have a Viking-era setting, although funny enough, Valhalla narrative director Darby McDevitt called the Division 2 "hint" a total coincidence. The large November leak contained a good deal of information that is actually true, although the rumor about the game's title being Ragnarok naturally turned out to be false.
The game will be available for PS5 and Xbox Series X, as Valhalla will be one of the first games bridging that gap between console generations, and it will continue the RPG elements of Origins and Odyssey. It should be noted, however, that Valhalla is modifying those to a degree and not entirely forgetting its roots; the annoying level grinds of Odyssey will be gone, while the game will bring back the old "social stealth" feature that dates all the way back to the first game.
As for naval combat and recruitment, Valhalla does indeed have naval combat, although Ubisoft confirmed that it has been scaled back from Odyssey. Players will be able to launch raids on different fortresses and enemy villages by land, while longships will instead be mainly used for travel with minor enemy encounters. In terms of recruitment, Ubisoft revealed that diplomacy will be quite important to Valhalla; players will need to forge alliances in their new land, as well as develop their own settlement to serve as a home base throughout the game. The base settlement is looking pretty expansive so far, as players can construct and upgrade barracks, blacksmiths, tattoo parlors, and other establishments.
The leak only got things partially right with Valhalla's main playable character as players will be able to choose between male and female, just like Odyssey, but their name won't be Jora. Instead, the protagonist's name is Eivor, and players will be able to customize Eivor's hair, tattoos, war paint, and gear. Valhalla will also contain supernatural elements, as seen in the reveal trailer when Eivor invokes Odin, although Ubisoft has established that the game's mythology will be more "grounded" than Odyssey. There won't be any kind of co-op mode for the game, though, in a fun twist, players will be able to create a custom Viking raider and share them online for friends to use in raids.
Beyond that, the achievement list for Valhalla has been proven false, as it refers to a co-op mode that doesn't exist in the game. It's also abundantly clear that all of the talk surrounding AC: Counter Culture and another game similar to Rogue were just that: talk. Undoubtedly, Ubisoft will reveal some more about Valhalla in the coming months up to its release, and for now, curious fans can put all of the previous rumors flying around to rest. The true nature of Valhalla will be revealed when it makes its debut later this year.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla releases for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X during the 2020 holiday season.