As it turns out, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s in-game location of Ravensthorpe actually exists, even if developer Ubisoft Montreal didn't mean to include it. The latest installment in the long-running historical action franchise was just released earlier this week, putting players in the role of a Viking warrior charged with protecting his/her clan from British forces during the real-life invasion of England in AD 873.
Throughout players’ journey as Eivor, they will travel to various real locations like London, York, and Norwich in their early Nordic glory in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. The game also features guest appearances from actual historical figures in true Assassin’s Creed fashion, allowing Eivor to face off against the likes of King Alfred the Great of England. However, as fate would have it one of Valhalla’s most prominent references to real-world locations and events came completely by accident.
Eurogamer points out that Ravensthorpe, the site of Eivor’s fully-customizable Viking settlement in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, is a real location that can be spotted on any modern map of England. (In fact, one of Eurogamer’s editors, Oli Welsh, actually grew up down the road from there.) However, unlike many of the easter eggs and historical references found in the Assassin’s Creed series, Ravensthorpe’s inclusion in Valhalla was unintentional on Ubisoft’s part. “We chose the name Ravensthorpe because Eivor's clan was the Raven clan, and Thorpe means 'farmland'... and we set the settlement in the middle of Mercia so it was centrally located on the map,” Valhalla narrative director Darby McDevitt explained in a post on the Assassin’s Creed subreddit after this was discovered, further explaining, “We had NO idea that there was a real Ravensthorpe in exactly this location in real life, until a few months ago. Granted there is no river running by the real Ravensthorpe, but a lot can happen in 1000 years."
Aside from the accidental inclusion of Ravensthrope as the game’s hub location, Ubisoft Montreal has certainly shown its work when it comes to depicting Viking civilization in Assassin's Creed Valhalla. While the game isn't an entirely accurate portrait of Vikings and their culture, it notably includes many forgotten aspects of their customs and beliefs, such as their surprisingly forward-thinking views toward women and the ancient Viking rap battles known as “flyting.”
Having the real-life location of Ravensthrope as the site of Eivor’s Viking settlement in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla might have been a happy accident, but it’s still a neat touch that makes Ubisoft’s latest historical epic feel all the more authentic. After all, there’s no better way to feel fully immersed in the world of Valhalla’s ancient European setting than to have the small village the player builds from the ground up be set in an actual location that is still standing today. It's still pretty crazy that Ubisoft was able to accidentally pick out a real-life place, down to the exact location, for Assassin's Creed Valhalla though.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla is available now for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
Source: Eurogamer, Darby McDevitt