According to a new report from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, Ubisoft is spinning a planned downloadable content for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla as part of the next standalone installment in the highly popular action-adventure franchise.
The new game, which will release sometime in late 2022 or early 2023, is being developed under the codename of “Rift”, and will once again transform the formula following Assassin’s Creed Origins‘ initiative to adopt role-playing elements. That means Valhalla will be the final game in the Assassin’s Creed RPG trilogy, with the series now looking back towards its roots by embracing a much smaller-scale design sheet.
Based on what Schreier has revealed, “Rift” was originally a DLC for Valhalla, but it’s now being shifted towards a full standalone title. The new project has also pushed away grand open-worlds in favor of a smaller game focusing on stealth elements.
The report also suggests this next entry will release before Infinity, which is supposed to be a live-service undertaking different from your typical Assassin’s Creed installment. In addition, the character of Basim, an assassin from Valhalla, will be headlining “Rift” as its main protagonist.
Ubisoft has been going through a bit of a rough patch with the last few Assassin’s Creed games, but hopefully, this shift in focus will inject new blood into the veins of an already-dying franchise. A franchise that in its prime revolutionized the sandbox action-adventure formula and forever changed the landscape of triple-A game development, but continues to be dogged by repetitiveness.