Ubisoft brings New Game+ to Assassin’s Creed Valhalla after six years By Luís Henrique Costa
3 min read
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Players can now restart Eivor’s story in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and keep much of their progress. The option arrives in a free update released on Thursday, and it is the first major content patch the game has received since February 2023.
The update reaches Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One. PlayStation said the same update was also live on PS5 and PS5 Pro, and Ubisoft used the release to mark 40 million players for the game, which launched in November 2020.
How the new run changes Eivor’s power and gear
New Game+ keeps equipment and other elements from the first playthrough, while enemies follow a difficulty scale built for the new run. According to the promotional material, this was the feature most requested by fans. The update also adds an optional progression mode, in which gear, runes and masteries feed into Eivor’s total Power. Mithril, a new resource, strengthens runes and upgrades Divine gear, and Divine quality now applies to every item.
Xbox players can earn Gamerscore from two new achievements
The patch adds two achievements for Xbox players, each with its own reward value. Both require effort tied to the new mode and to the Mithril system.
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- Cycle of Renewal: 50 Gamerscore, for finishing the main story in New Game+
- Ivaldi’s Heir: 10 Gamerscore, for fully upgrading a Divine gear piece with Mithril
A stash feature and a Naoe-inspired outfit arrive too
Beyond the achievements, the update brings new runes, a stash system for storing items, and new rewards. One reward is a Master Assassin outfit based on Naoe, the protagonist of Assassin’s Creed Shadows. The sources checked did not explain in detail how the stash will work.
Why the mode took almost six years to arrive
In 2022, Ubisoft Montreal said the game would not receive New Game+, because it considered the options for making replays unique and rewarding too limited. The mode now arrives almost six years after launch, and the timeline below marks the main steps.
- November 2020: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla launches
- 2022: Ubisoft Montreal says the game will not get New Game+
- February 2023: last content update, which Ubisoft called final
- November 5, 2026: free update with New Game+ is released
Patch notes and console news still pending from Ubisoft
Ubisoft said the full patch notes would be published, along with news on current-generation console updates. In its statement, the company wrote that there would be “news regarding current-generation console updates in the coming days.” PlayStation said PS5 Pro players also get an upgraded PSSR upscaling technology, which the company said runs Quality mode at 60 FPS.
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What the lead game designer said about player feedback
In an interview released with the announcement, lead game designer David Larouche said the team wanted New Game+ to be more than replaying the campaign. He added that the studio follows social media and player comments. These statements come from the promotional material and were not found in another source consulted.
Some promised numbers still lack outside confirmation
Some figures from the promotional material have not been confirmed by other sources. They include an increase in the maximum level of each gear piece from 13 to 27, more than 300 runes that can be engraved, and the condition that unlocks New Game+ after the mission Dia Sagrado. Ubisoft has not yet published the full patch notes, so the final content may change.
