New viking Assassin's Creed leak: 4 player co-op, 2020 next-gen launch

UPDATE: Games analyst Daniel Ahmad asserts most leaked Assassin's Creed info is erroneous and based on Kotaku's reports. Take the following with a whole salt-shaker.

A new 4Chan leak may reveal some tidbits about Ubisoft's new Viking-themed Assassin's Creed, including a possible September 2020 launch date and other gameplay features.

Photo: Peter Jackson

Normally we try to distance ourselves from 4Chan "leaks" because, well, it's 4Chan. Anyone can make an account and post whatever they want. Every now and then some nuggets of info slip through the cracks though, and this might be the case with the latest Assassin's Creed: Ragnarok rumors, which pinpoint a split-gen launch ahead of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.

Some of the new leaks apparently match up with info heard by Kotaku's Jason Schreier, but we don't know which parts are accurate. The most interesting tidbits highlight weapons that can be socketed with runes for extra bonuses, kind of like runes and gems from Diablo II, as well as four-player drop-in/drop-out co-op play in the campaign. There's more emphasis on RPG this time around with light character classes and skill trees, and weapon durability is now a thing (really disappointing). Level locks are gone and there's even larger-scale conquests and smaller-scale raids.

The world is apparently bigger than ever and spans a huge portion of northern 9th Century Europe from Kiev to Normandy to France, complete with massive cities.

Most of this sounds just like an Ubisoft game and could be accurate. Ubisoft loves engagement and live services, and up until now the new Assassin's Creed games were singleplayer-only. This might be a departure for the sake of longer-term engagement and microtransaction revenues (expect mTX to be included).

Check below for a huge list of what's included in the leak:

• Will launch on Xbox One, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X
• Officially announced in February at the upcoming PlayStation event, release date September 29th, 2020.
• Up to 4 player drop in drop out co-op like Ghost Recon Wildlands.
• Player can only play as a single character, Jora, who can be chosen to be male or female.
• Jora led a small band of 4 during their adventures which is why other players can drop in and out for co-op.
• Continues heavy RPG mechanics now including different classes and mild skill tree changes based on class. Player class can be changed by a specific character
• Combat is upgraded with more weapon types and special abilities for every weapon grouping.
• Each weapon can have runes added, be upgraded, and durability increased.
• Weapon durability does now come into play, forcing players to use their weapon pool more effectively and forced to manage a smaller inventory that can be upgraded
• Replacing adrenaline is a berserker mode which also activates special runes like fire, frost, or lightning damage.
• Sailing returns is less combat intensive and more focused on exploration and travel including being able to navigate tight rivers and wetlands
• Parkour is upgraded with tree climbing and new animations
• The hidden blade is back and is far more customizable in terms of cosmetics. Can be upgraded to kill in one stab
• Stealth is upgraded by having physical stealth skills such as hiding in mud, snow, crouching in bushes, hiding in bales of hay, etc.
• Players can now also hide in crowds of civilians if their outfit/ armor is appropriate otherwise it can attract attention.
• Players now have a reputation system based on quests completed for people in cities, the town officials, clothing worn, crimes committed, etc. Some quests and story missions can only be completed after reaching a certain reputation with kingdoms.
• Conquest battles return to help capture some settlements from templars and players can approach them in a variety of ways.
• Players can also find battles between warring kingdoms occurring dynamically throughout the world.
• Multiple settlements throughout the world can be captured and controlled for trade and currency gains
• Players can organize large scale raids of forts and cities with nearby viking camps, wait for their own raids, or go in by themselves.
• The assassins are believed to have a connection to Odin and dub their raven drone as Odin sight.
• Difficulty returns but focuses more on parry times, player health, and enemy reaction times rather than enemy health
• Leveling is overhauled to allow players to improve skillsets to gain experience, like in Skyrim. As a result, level locking regions and content is gone.
• Some skills are unlocked by reaching a high enough skillset level, some must be bought with skill points, and others are unlocked through game/ story progression.
• The map is massive. Like all of northern Europe. My source mentioned big cities being York, London, Paris, and Kiev. Every kingdom was meant to be really unique.
• Game begins in 845 CE at the siege of Paris with you playing as Jora's father, Rorik who's an ally of the viking leader Ragnar.
• We next cut to 863 as the teenage Jora living in Novigrad?. Eventually we meet assassins and are sent to deliver a package to Ragnar in Uppsala.
• Jora becomes a thane to Ragnar allowing the settlement system and we then follow him to Northumbria where the templar Aella kills Ragnar.
• Jora returns to Ragnar's sons where the army is formed to combat the templars that control most of Europe
• We follow most of the invasion and war, becoming allies with Alfred, conquer Kiev, help Rollo in Normandy, and overthrow Fat Charles in France.
• Then a templar named Bjorn has an Eden piece that's like a knife that gives him control over vikings and tries to invade England again (idk what this is, Google translate may be screwing up).
• Then we kill Bjorn in a temple and give his knife to his mother's who's Ragnar's ex?
• Also there are a ton of temples that are each protected by a mythical beast like a giant snake, a dragon, kraken, and a giant.