Ubisoft Admits Assassin's Creed Valhalla Updates Haven't Been Great, Will Take More Time

Ubisoft has admitted that some of the recent updates for Assassin's Creed Valhalla have not lived up to expectations, and it's changing its production pipeline in order to improve these in the future. That includes a longer development cycle for each update, as well as delaying the upcoming Wrath of the Druids expansion.

"Our community is at the heart of everything we do, and we always strive to provide you with great experiences," Ubisoft said. "That said, we recognize that some of our recent title updates may not have met your expectations or been up to our standards."

The development team explained that title updates, separate from smaller hotfix updates, are split into six stages: Issue Identification, Issue Reproduction, Fix Development, Internal Testing, Submission, and Deployment.

The Internal Testing phase can vary wildly in how long it takes, ranging from hours to several days, and the submission phase can also sometimes take up to a week.

Ubisoft outlined timelines to resolve three separate issues in Assassin's Creed Valhalla. One is for missing fish across England, and while a full fix isn't coming until June, a partial fix is arriving in April. The "In the Absence of an Ealdorman" quest doesn't have a final fix date yet, though there are several causes for issues with it that could be fixed in earlier updates. Lastly, the "Pig of Prophecy" side quest is scheduled for a fix in April, as well. In the past, some content updates have broken other features or caused instability.

Title Update 1.2.1 is now planned to release on April 27, with the Wrath of the Druids expansion arriving on May 13. The next update will then arrive in late spring, as will a free Mastery Challenge game mode.

Assassin's Creed Valhalla is available for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5, PC, Amazon Luna, and Google Stadia. Ubisoft is currently working on several projects related to Assassin's Creed, though none of the announced ones are games. When that game comes, Jordan Ramée is hoping Ubisoft goes for a smaller, more personal setting.