For the first time, Ubisoft is supporting an Assassin's Creed game with a second year of paid and free content, as the developer has revealed big plans for Assassin's Creed Valhalla. In addition to a newly announced crossover event featuring two Assassin's Creed protagonists, a major paid DLC expansion is coming to Assassin's Creed Valhalla next year.

Titled Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarok, the story expansion is coming to the game on March 10, 2022, and it will take Eivor to the realm of Norse mythology as the character embraces a new role as the Norse God Odin.

Developed by Ubisoft Sofia, who previously worked on 2014's Assassin's Creed Rogue and The Curse of the Pharaohs DLC for Assassin's Creed Origins, this new DLC story is set to be the franchise's largest yet. Ubisoft says Dawn of Ragnarok contains over 35 hours of gameplay, with a Norse realm to explore that's one-third the size of Valhalla's England.

In this expansion, Eivor drinks a potion that transports them into the world of Svartalfheim, a mythology-infused world under invasion. Here, as Eivor embraces the role of Odin, they set out on a mission to save their son Baldr. Along the way, the player will interact with Dwarves, Frost Giants, and more creatures from Norse mythology.

Dawn of Ragnarok will introduce new hooks into the combat already established in the Assassin's Creed Valhalla base game. For example, a new ability allows the player to absorb power and abilities from defeated enemies, changing the way a battle can play out. One of these abilities will let you resurrect defeated enemies to fight on your side. The DLC's creative director says the supernatural elements play a key role in the gameplay.

"In Dawn of Ragnarok players will experience what [it] feels like to be a God," Mikhail Lozanov of Ubisoft Sofia said. "To harness the powers of defeated enemies is one of the key new additions to the expansion."

Recent Assassin's Creed games have been diving more and more into mythology. Assassin's Creed Origins dove into Ancient Egyptian mythology, while Odyssey saw figures from Greek mythos including Medusa, Cyclops, the Minotaur, and more.

Typically, Assassin's Creed games have wrapped up with post-launch support after the game's first year. With Valhalla, the team is continuing the project onto its second year, a first for the franchise. The devs say this decision is simply because there were more ideas on the table for what to do with Valhalla.

"Since the production of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, we knew we wanted to re-invent our post-launch support as during the previous opuses the team often felt there were more stories or ideas we could have delivered to the player," Jose Araiza of Ubisoft Montreal said. "For this reason, we came up with a plan to deliver on the team's ambitions and things like the festivals and the game modes came to life. Additionally, the reception from the players has been very positive, and seeing that they are still accompanying us is what makes year 2 possible."

We do know that the next mainline game in the series, called Assassin's Creed Infinity, is in development, but Ubisoft has not given any specific details about the project. Rumors indicate the new game is designed to run for years as a live service game, with new content released over time. One could read into this new Valhalla roadmap as testing the waters for the live service concept, but Ubisoft did not comment on the specifics of where the franchise is going from here.

In addition to the major expansion and the crossover event with Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Valhalla players can also check out The Siege of Paris, Wrath of the Druids, and the game's Discovery Tour.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

For the first time, Ubisoft is supporting an Assassin's Creed game with a second year of paid and free content, as the developer has revealed big plans for Assassin's Creed Valhalla. In addition to a newly announced crossover event featuring two Assassin's Creed protagonists, a major paid DLC expansion is coming to Assassin's Creed Valhalla next year.

Titled Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarok, the story expansion is coming to the game on March 10, 2022, and it will take Eivor to the realm of Norse mythology as the character embraces a new role as the Norse God Odin.

Developed by Ubisoft Sofia, who previously worked on 2014's Assassin's Creed Rogue and The Curse of the Pharaohs DLC for Assassin's Creed Origins, this new DLC story is set to be the franchise's largest yet. Ubisoft says Dawn of Ragnarok contains over 35 hours of gameplay, with a Norse realm to explore that's one-third the size of Valhalla's England.

In this expansion, Eivor drinks a potion that transports them into the world of Svartalfheim, a mythology-infused world under invasion. Here, as Eivor embraces the role of Odin, they set out on a mission to save their son Baldr. Along the way, the player will interact with Dwarves, Frost Giants, and more creatures from Norse mythology.

Dawn of Ragnarok will introduce new hooks into the combat already established in the Assassin's Creed Valhalla base game. For example, a new ability allows the player to absorb power and abilities from defeated enemies, changing the way a battle can play out. One of these abilities will let you resurrect defeated enemies to fight on your side. The DLC's creative director says the supernatural elements play a key role in the gameplay.

"In Dawn of Ragnarok players will experience what [it] feels like to be a God," Mikhail Lozanov of Ubisoft Sofia said. "To harness the powers of defeated enemies is one of the key new additions to the expansion."

Recent Assassin's Creed games have been diving more and more into mythology. Assassin's Creed Origins dove into Ancient Egyptian mythology, while Odyssey saw figures from Greek mythos including Medusa, Cyclops, the Minotaur, and more.

Typically, Assassin's Creed games have wrapped up with post-launch support after the game's first year. With Valhalla, the team is continuing the project onto its second year, a first for the franchise. The devs say this decision is simply because there were more ideas on the table for what to do with Valhalla.

"Since the production of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, we knew we wanted to re-invent our post-launch support as during the previous opuses the team often felt there were more stories or ideas we could have delivered to the player," Jose Araiza of Ubisoft Montreal said. "For this reason, we came up with a plan to deliver on the team's ambitions and things like the festivals and the game modes came to life. Additionally, the reception from the players has been very positive, and seeing that they are still accompanying us is what makes year 2 possible."

We do know that the next mainline game in the series, called Assassin's Creed Infinity, is in development, but Ubisoft has not given any specific details about the project. Rumors indicate the new game is designed to run for years as a live service game, with new content released over time. One could read into this new Valhalla roadmap as testing the waters for the live service concept, but Ubisoft did not comment on the specifics of where the franchise is going from here.

In addition to the major expansion and the crossover event with Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Valhalla players can also check out The Siege of Paris, Wrath of the Druids, and the game's Discovery Tour.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Ubisoft is supporting Assassin's Creed Valhalla with a second year's worth of content, and it kicks off later this week with a big crossover event featuring the return of a fan-favorite character from the Assassin's Creed franchise.

A free content update is coming to Assassin's Creed Valhalla, as well as the previous game in the series, Assassin's Creed Odyssey on December 14 that unites the two timelines. Odyssey protagonist Kassandra will cross paths with Valhalla protagonist Eivor in a new event called, Assassin's Creed Crossover Stories.

The event includes a new quest in both Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Assassin's Creed Valhalla where the encounter between the two characters will be a playable quest. This crossover event means the Viking era of Assassin's Creed Valhalla will come face-to-face with the ancient Greek setting from Assassin's Creed Odyssey.

This quest event is a collaboration between Ubisoft Quebec and Ubisoft Montreal. The devs say they may continue to explore the idea of different classic Assassin's Creed characters meeting each other in new ways.

"The Assassin’s Creed content is connected by characters, lore, locations, eras, motivations and more," said Clémence Nogrix, the Associate Creative Director at Ubisoft Quebec. "We had so much fun imagining how interesting the encounter would be between two of our main Assassin’s Creed heroes, we may want to explore new paths in the future."

As for what that future could look like? We already know of the development of Assassin's Creed Infinity, which is rumored to be a live service game featuring multiple historical eras. This could mean this Kassandra and Eivor team-up could be a taste of what's to come.

Plus, the rumors also point to Ubisoft Montreal and Quebec unifying into one team for Assassin's Creed Infinity, which are the same studios collaborating on the Crossover Stories event. We don't know if this crossover event could be a sign of things to come for the future of the series, but for now, fans can look forward to this crossover event, as well as the major paid expansion coming to Valhalla, Dawn of Ragnarok.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Ubisoft is supporting Assassin's Creed Valhalla with a second year's worth of content, and it kicks off later this week with a big crossover event featuring the return of a fan-favorite character from the Assassin's Creed franchise.

A free content update is coming to Assassin's Creed Valhalla, as well as the previous game in the series, Assassin's Creed Odyssey on December 14 that unites the two timelines. Odyssey protagonist Kassandra will cross paths with Valhalla protagonist Eivor in a new event called, Assassin's Creed Crossover Stories.

The event includes a new quest in both Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Assassin's Creed Valhalla where the encounter between the two characters will be a playable quest. This crossover event means the Viking era of Assassin's Creed Valhalla will come face-to-face with the ancient Greek setting from Assassin's Creed Odyssey.

This quest event is a collaboration between Ubisoft Quebec and Ubisoft Montreal. The devs say they may continue to explore the idea of different classic Assassin's Creed characters meeting each other in new ways.

"The Assassin’s Creed content is connected by characters, lore, locations, eras, motivations and more," said Clémence Nogrix, the Associate Creative Director at Ubisoft Quebec. "We had so much fun imagining how interesting the encounter would be between two of our main Assassin’s Creed heroes, we may want to explore new paths in the future."

As for what that future could look like? We already know of the development of Assassin's Creed Infinity, which is rumored to be a live service game featuring multiple historical eras. This could mean this Kassandra and Eivor team-up could be a taste of what's to come.

Plus, the rumors also point to Ubisoft Montreal and Quebec unifying into one team for Assassin's Creed Infinity, which are the same studios collaborating on the Crossover Stories event. We don't know if this crossover event could be a sign of things to come for the future of the series, but for now, fans can look forward to this crossover event, as well as the major paid expansion coming to Valhalla, Dawn of Ragnarok.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

The NPD Group has announced that the Nintendo Switch was the best-selling console in the US during November 2021. Not only that, but the console remains the US' best-selling console of 2021.

In the analyst group's latest data, the Switch was reported as being the best-selling hardware platform in November, both in terms of units sold and dollars spent. 1.13 million consoles were sold during the month, with 550,000 of them sold during Thanksgiving week.

This comes despite a colossal year-on-year decline for hardware sales; November hardware spending is down 38%, to $883m. This is the lowest total since November 2016. This is blamed on a lack of available console inventory, which is a symptom of the ongoing chip shortages.

Senior analyst at Niko Partners, Daniel Ahmad, notes that the PS5 and Xbox sales combined barely equals what Switch has sold in total, and that total sales of PS4, Xbox One, and Wii U back in November 2014 were higher than Switch, PS5, and Xbox Series consoles this November.

If you want to know how bad the supply situation is:

- The Switch sold less than November last year
- PS5 + Xbox barely = what Switch sold in total
- The PS4, XB1 and Wii U (yes Wii U) sold more in Nov 2014 than Switch + PS5 + Xbox Series in Nov 2021. https://t.co/pX6rpKb8Nk

— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) December 13, 2021

As for games, Call of Duty: Vanguard was November's best-selling game in the US, and has become the second-best selling game of the year. It's second only to its predecessor, 2020's Black Ops Cold War, which has been the biggest game of the year in the US. NDP's analysis notes that this is the fourteenth year Call of Duty has been the best-selling game in its release month.

For more from Nintendo, check out the news that Paper Mario is coming to Nintendo Switch Online, and where PS5, Xbox Series X, and Switch rank among the best-selling consoles.

The NPD Group has announced that the Nintendo Switch was the best-selling console in the US during November 2021. Not only that, but the console remains the US' best-selling console of 2021.

In the analyst group's latest data, the Switch was reported as being the best-selling hardware platform in November, both in terms of units sold and dollars spent. 1.13 million consoles were sold during the month, with 550,000 of them sold during Thanksgiving week.

This comes despite a colossal year-on-year decline for hardware sales; November hardware spending is down 38%, to $883m. This is the lowest total since November 2016. This is blamed on a lack of available console inventory, which is a symptom of the ongoing chip shortages.

Senior analyst at Niko Partners, Daniel Ahmad, notes that the PS5 and Xbox sales combined barely equals what Switch has sold in total, and that total sales of PS4, Xbox One, and Wii U back in November 2014 were higher than Switch, PS5, and Xbox Series consoles this November.

If you want to know how bad the supply situation is:

- The Switch sold less than November last year
- PS5 + Xbox barely = what Switch sold in total
- The PS4, XB1 and Wii U (yes Wii U) sold more in Nov 2014 than Switch + PS5 + Xbox Series in Nov 2021. https://t.co/pX6rpKb8Nk

— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) December 13, 2021

As for games, Call of Duty: Vanguard was November's best-selling game in the US, and has become the second-best selling game of the year. It's second only to its predecessor, 2020's Black Ops Cold War, which has been the biggest game of the year in the US. NDP's analysis notes that this is the fourteenth year Call of Duty has been the best-selling game in its release month.

For more from Nintendo, check out the news that Paper Mario is coming to Nintendo Switch Online, and where PS5, Xbox Series X, and Switch rank among the best-selling consoles.

Regardless of how you felt about it, Final Fantasy 15 was certainly an eccentric take on the classic JRPG series when it combined hallmarks of the fantasy genre with an American road trip. The developers behind FF15 are now working under the banner Luminous Productions, and are taking a similar, genre-bending approach to their next game, Forspoken.

Luminous Productions was founded in 2018 and is primarily staffed by the developers of Final Fantasy 15. A rare internal studio within Square Enix’s many development teams, it was formed to create games that push the boundaries of the Luminous Engine. Enter Forspoken.

In a hands-off presentation, IGN was able to get a better sense of what Forspoken is. And, to be perfectly frank, it looks more like an open-world RPG in the vein of Assassin’s Creed and The Witcher than anything I’ve previously seen from Square Enix.

Speaking with IGN, Forspoken director Takefumi Terada explains that the open-world gameplay will reflect one of Luminous’ themes as a studio. “When you look back to Luminous Productions and kind of a core concept or theme for the studio, it is to really blend art and technology,” Terada says.

“So the goals are quite high as far as developing an open-world game that achieves the highest heights, essentially. Through Forspoken, we believe we’ve been able to incorporate our concept for the studio and showcase that to a certain degree”

While Terada says there’s room to grow, Forspoken will serve as a showcase for the studio in terms of the quality Luminous can bring to the gaming landscape.

The presentation was hands-off, but the gameplay we saw will be familiar to anyone who has played a modern open-world RPG. Protagonist Frey is seen traversing overland to various waypoints and mission markers. There appear to be several points of interests Frey can explore and no limit to where she can or can’t venture towards.

Along the way, Frey will encounter various enemies and monsters in the wild. Combat is completely real-time and primarily magic-based. Frey can cycle through a collection of magic spells and fight enemies with a variety of long-range and close-range attacks, whether that’s firing lightning bolts from afar or dashing close to hit enemies with a magic sword.

The Luminous Engine certainly appears to be putting in the work, especially during the combat animations that mix all kinds of elemental effects like water, lightning, and fire. Visually, Forspoken looks to be shaping up to Luminous’ goal of achieving tech-driven visuals.

While the powers are all from fantasy, your player character is a different kind of protagonist. Frey Holland (played by Ella Balinska) is a troubled girl from New York City. While struggling in our world, Frey is mysteriously transported to a fantasy realm called Athia where she gains powers through a sentient bracelet named Cuff.

The idea was created by writer Gary Whitta (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) and later included contributions from Uncharted’s Amy Hennig and finally Allison Rymer and Todd Stashwick. The premise, of a person in the real world being transported to a fantastical land, is a hot genre right now in Japanese anime and manga called Isekai, but Luminous says the inspirations for Forspoken predate the trend.

“We’re well aware there’s this popular kind of sub-genre, especially within Japanese anime and stuff," says Luminous creative producer Raio Mitsuno. "But at the time, I mean when you really thinking back about it, like there’s been a lot of fantasy novels and works like [The Chronicles of] Narnia and Alice in Wonderland that dealt with these kinds of fish out of water type stories.”

Mixing and matching a fantasy world with a New York heroine certainly is a vibe, as they say. While Athia is filled with magical jargon like the Break — a dark blight that’s corrupting the world when Frey joins; and Tantas — a group of evil sorceresses who rule over Athia, Frey is not cut from this same cloth. Frey won’t spout fantasy-tinged monologues; she’s a bit of a potty-mouth, cussing at enemies while blasting them with magical powers.

The upgrade system, too, is unconventional. While Frey will be able to improve her powers and stats by upgrading her cloak, she can also gain special abilities and buffs using magical nail polish. Overworld travel is also done using magical parkour, which lets Frey cover large distances on foot, dashing across fields or jumping to high locations.

I like this kind of off-kilter take on the JRPG formula, just like how I enjoyed the road trip flavor of Final Fantasy 15. It won’t be for everyone, particularly purists, but it’s new even if maybe just a slight cringe. But I’m willing to take this ride if only to see what Luminous Productions has up their sleeves for their first official outing.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

The Wild Hunt is mentioned multiple times throughout Netflix’s The Witcher. It’s referenced in the pilot episode, and has several nods through this year’s second season. One day it will arrive, and change Geralt’s world forever. But for now, it’s a looming threat, much like Thanos was for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

At a recent press junket, IGN asked The Witcher showrunner and Executive Producer, Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, if The Wild Hunt is the show’s Thanos. “Completely,” she said.

“What I love, and this is how it's set up in the books too, is that the Wild Hunt is a ‘portent of doom',” she said. “They're always just mentioned when war is coming, or a battle is on the horizon. And so they have this air of evil mystery around them. What we're going to start doing [in the show] is beginning to understand where they came from and what they want. And so, like all characters in Sapkowski novels, we're going to get a little bit deeper into them so they're not just the evil skeletal bad guys.”

Hissrich says that part of the reason the Wild Hunt has been seeded so early is that it helps communicate to fans that the team knows what is important. “We wanted to make sure we mentioned the Wild Hunt in season one, for instance,” she said. “It's in the pilot, so that we can say ‘We hear you fans, we know that this is a big deal.’ The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, it's what the fans know. But we're not ready to get to it yet.”

Building up to the Wild Hunt’s eventual introduction requires careful planning, but Hissrich notes that not everything has been placed deliberately.

“I would love to say that all of that is planned out perfectly,” she said. “Some of it is, there are things that obviously we knew we wanted to tell over the first couple of seasons. Sometimes, though, it's pure coincidence. There are things that I look back on in season one and I think ‘Thank God someone threw that line in there’, and we've continued to play with it and expand it in later series.”

For more from The Witcher, check out our season 2 review, as well as Henry Cavill talking The Witcher 3: Blood & Wine and what characters he'd like to play in a Warhammer show.

Henry Cavill has said that he’d like to be part of a Warhammer TV show or movie, should a live-action project ever happen.

Talking to IGN at a recent press event for The Witcher, Cavill said, “There are a lot of characters from the Warhammer universe that I want to be. But I can only really be one, because once I'm one, then I can't be others. So if it were to ever happen, if there were to be anything live action, I would have to be very aware of that.

“[Warhammer] is obviously character rich, and especially the 40K universe,” he continued. “I suppose I could play a different character from the Warhammer Fantasy universe versus the 40K universe, but I'm now just dreaming. I'd have to speak to the guys at Games Workshop and see what happens.”

When suggested that he’d make a good Gregor Eisenhorn, a character from a trilogy of Warhammer 40,000 Inquisitor books written by Dan Abnett, Cavill said, “That would be exciting, yes, but then I burn Primarchs, and the Captain-Generals, so I don't really know.”

Captain-General is the most senior rank of the Adeptus Custodes, the elite bodyguards of the Emperor of Mankind in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Cavill himself collects and paints Adeptus Custodes miniatures, as revealed in a photo the actor uploaded to Instagram last year. The Primarchs, meanwhile, are the fathers of the iconic Space Marines. Fans of the Horus Heresy series of books may find it easy to imagine Cavill as Roboute Guilliman, Rogal Dorn, or, since he seems to be fond of his Witcher wig, perhaps even Leman Russ.

Henry Cavill has mentioned his love of Games Workshop’s sci-fi universe before, having pointed out that a chandelier on The Witcher season 2 set looks like a Blackstone Fortress. He’s also a fan of the Fantasy side of the hobby, and is even an Easter egg in Total War: Warhammer 2.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.

The cast and showrunner of The Witcher have spoken about the future direction of the show’s planned seven seasons, and how the original novels will always be the guiding light.

Talking to IGN, The Witcher showrunner and Executive Producer, Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, said of the seven season plan, “It would be a straight translation of the books… I think there's just so much material that I don't feel the need to start inventing my own to keep it going.”

“We really try to stick to a book a season,” she elaborated. “We did combine some of the short stories for the first season, and there are things in the short stories that we want to continue to return to, because there was just too much good material to tell in eight episodes. So for instance, that's why we did A Grain of Truth at the beginning of this season, and it's our hope to keep peppering those in as we go.”

“For me, it is all about the books,” said Henry Cavill, who plays Geralt of Rivia. “The books are so nuanced, and there is so much complexity to the characters in there that it is ultimately that. As far as the show goes, I just want to make sure that the character and the books are done justice in live action, because I'm always of the mind that if it's not broken, don't try and fix it. And I don't think they're broken, and I absolutely love those books. For me, that's my focus.”

“If there are things that happen after that, then exciting things to explore as well,” Cavill continued. “Because it's a fantasy world and we don't quite know what happens to Geralt at the end of the books. There's a strong suggestion, but then we also have the games, which have happened after the books, and then the games all have different endings as well, so maybe something happens after that? Maybe something has happened before that? I've actually heard that Sapkowski spoke once about writing another book, and whether it was just going to be a solo adventure of Geralt or something else I do not know, but that could be interesting to explore as well.”

As far as Hissrich is concerned, any exploration beyond the books would likely come in one of the spin-off shows. “I think that one of the beauties of building out a Witcher universe is that you can actually use those spin-offs to do slightly different things than the books did,” she said. “But to me that actually makes it even more important that in the mothership series we always stick to what Sapkowski intended. To me, I just don't think it's my responsibility to continue those stories when he clearly felt there was a natural ending.”

Henry Cavill has previously said that he is committed to playing Geralt until that ending, and Yennefer and Jaskier actors Anya Chalotra and Joey Batey are on-board, too. “I'd follow Lauren to the ends of the Earth,” said Batey. “This show has given me so much, I would support the show and be in it until the end,” added Chalotra.

Chalotra is unsure exactly where Yennefer’s story will take her over the planned seven seasons, due to the amount of original material included. “From the books we all know where it's headed, and I just can't wait to kind of fulfill that and enhance those character's storylines. A lot of Yennefer's storylines have been created, so anything's possible really.”

The same can be said for Jaskier, which makes Batey excited for what’s to come. “I think Lauren [Scmidt Hissrich] gets to have fun with some of the characters we don't see as much in the books,” he says. “And so the writing team get to go 'Ah! Fun, where do we put them in this world?'. So I'm keen for the surprises.”

Freya Allen, who plays Ciri, has one thing she definitely wants to achieve before the seven seasons are done. “One thing I definitely want is for her to finally get a nice silver sword rather than this wooden stick that she's currently got,” she says. “And I want to see her fight monsters and fight people.”

For more from The Witcher, check out the plan for introducing The Wild Hunt into the show, as well as Henry Cavill saying he’d like Blood & Wine’s Toussaint region to feature in the show. We’ve also got Henry Cavill talking about characters he’d like to play in a Warhammer show, and our The Witcher season 2 review.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.