Ubisoft released a new version of the Assassin's Creed Valhalla announcement trailer with female Eivor as the protagonist as part of the announcement regarding the game's official soundtrack. Assassin's Creed Valhalla will be the latest entry into Ubisoft's popular action-RPG series, and will feature the ability to choose between a male or female version of main character Eivor, alongside the ability to gender-swap between the two during gameplay sessions.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla was recently at the center of some fan controversy regarding the decision to let players choose between using a male or female Eivor to help the Vikings survive a tumultuous period in history. According to a rumor backed up by a few pieces of evidence some fans had put together to support the theory, Assassins' Creed Valhalla was originally meant to only have a female Eivor, with the ability to choose a male Eivor added later. Assassin's Creed Valhalla narrative director Darby McDevitt appeared in a Reddit thread discussing the rumor to shoot it down, but did so describing it as "not wholly accurate," which left fans with more questions.
Without much fanfare, Ubisoft recently unveiled the Assassin's Creed Valhalla announcement trailer with female Eivor rather than male as part of the announcement of The Ravens Saga EP, a soundtrack that curates some of the title's tracks. Given the troubling rumors surrounding Ubisoft's treatment of female representation in video games, seeing Eivor appear in a re-done cinematic trailer is refreshing, and does a fine job of highlighting the draw of the upcoming soundtrack, which has a very different feel to it when compared to past games in the franchise.
Though the video's release could tie into the fact that there has been so much discussion of the Assassin's Creed Valhalla gender controversy over the past several days, it seems like an odd decision. What the trailer's release does, coupled with so little discussion of it from Ubisoft and its loose-at-best tie-in to the announcement of a soundtrack, is highlight just how long it's been in between male Eivor and female Eivor's turns in the cinematic trailer spotlight. This could always have been the plan, of course, in which case it's just unfortunate timing for Ubisoft given how recently media began covering the female Eivor controversy.
At its core, the Assassin's Creed Valhalla announcement trailer with female Eivor is a compelling watch, especially when viewed side-by-side with the male Eivor version. It highlights how fluidly and gracefully both versions slot into the game's aesthetics and design while helping consumers on the fence about which version of Eivor they want to see during cinematics make a decision. Unfortunately, it will do little to quell the discussion regarding female Eivor's general lack of representation, at least as a priority for Ubisoft.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla releases on November 17 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, and will release at a later date for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.
Source: Ubisoft/YouTube