Outside of a disappointing amount of early glitches, Assassins Creed Valhalla has been a generally well-received entry in the Assassin's Creed series. However, it was also developed with last gen's PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles in mind, and gamers are excited to see the storied franchise take a true leap to the latest generation of consoles in the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Will that next-gen Assassin's Creed experience be coming any time this year, though? Unfortunately, Valhalla's expansive DLC roadmap and its expected rollout makes that possibility seem very unlikely at this point.
Predicting the release of Assassin's Creed titles used to be much easier: they would come out every single year like clockwork, even if that meant releasing with a myriad of glitches and technical issues like in the case of Assassin's Creed: Unity. Things have been a bit tougher to predict since 2015 though, as that was when the series begun to sprinkle in the occasional two-year gap between titles, which means while the next Assassin's Creed game could theoretically come in 2021, it's just as likely to hit shelves in 2022. However, the latter option is looking increasingly likely due to AC Valhalla's vast amount of DLC and its projected rollout.
Assassins Creed Valhalla is a massive game on its own, with its story taking upward of 40 hours to complete, and its announced DLC looks to make that experience even meatier. In addition to free content updates, AC Valhalla's DLC roadmap contains two full expansions in the form of Wrath of the Druids and The Siege of Paris. If the stuffed nature of Valhalla's primary content is any indication, these expansions will most likely require many, many hours for Assassins Creed players to fully complete. It seems unlikely that with two massive expansions on the way, Ubisoft would want to limit their time in the spotlight so significantly by dropping another fully-fledged Assassin's Creed adventure right on their heels. To add to this train of thought even further, there are significant rumors floating around that Ubisoft is planning a third Valhalla DLC expansion codenamed Meteor. If these rumors are true then it seems almost impossible for Ubisoft to fit in another AC title in 2021.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla's DLC Will Be Expansive
The timeline of these releases, along with the possible implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, are the final bits of evidence against any potential 2021 Assassin's Creed title. Valhalla's first expansion, Wrath of the Druids, was originally supposed to release on April 29th, but has now been pushed back to May 13th. This would seem to indicate that future expansions will be pushed back slightly as well, which means that by the time Valhalla is receiving its final bit of DLC, 2021 could be nearing its end. There are also substantial rumors out there that Ubisoft's release schedule has suffered COVID-related setbacks, and that the next mainline Assassin's Creed game might be pushed back even further than originally intended.
The steady flow of Assassin's Creed titles over the last 15 years makes it feel like a new one is always right around the corner, but gamers might be waiting a little longer than usual for this next installment. While a 2021 title might have been possible at one time, the current rollout of Assassin's Creed: Valhalla's DLC seems to clearly indicate that it could be a while before fans get a brand-new adventure.