Assassin's Creed Valhalla adds MLB star Cody Bellinger as bat-swinging viking Otta Sluggasson

Celebrity cameos in video games are nothing new. The upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 has been riding Keanu Reeves' appearance in the game for a long time, and it's not even out yet. But Reeves doesn't feel out of place in a cyberpunk future — he is Neo after all. The cameo in the latest entry into the Assassin's Creed franchise, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, is a bit more of a stretch...and it's all the more fun for it. Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder and the National League's MVP for 2019 Cody Bellinger is bringing baseball to the Viking age.

Bellinger is playing Otta Sluggasson, described in his video reveal as "a Dane with a knack for hitting rocks very very far," presumably with that baseball bat-like club he's swinging around. What a name.

Take a look:

Bellinger did motion capture with both bats and axes, providing the voice for Sluggasson and lending him his signature swing. The video shows off a clip of the protagonist Eivor meeting Sluggasson, as well as the latter preparing to go to bat over a home plate-like stump. A baseball minigame inside of a period-perfect Viking world? Sounds fun to us.

Speaking to ESPN about the role, Bellinger said, "I'm excited. I love video games, so when I heard I had the opportunity to be a character in a big video game, I was excited, I really was. I'm kind of a video game nerd. My brother and I played Assassin's Creed back in the day and used to love it. The graphics are so realistic. It's a game that will take up a lot of your time."

"You can find me in story mode. You got to beat me in the challenge to advance to the next place. My name is Otta Sluggasson — it translates to something like 'power hitter' or 'big hitter' or something like that," the athlete continued. "It was super exciting when I was doing the filming for it, and I got to swing a bat or a stick or an ax, so it was super natural to me."

Assassin's Creed Valhalla hits Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PS4, PC, and Stadia on Nov. 10. It'll hit PS5 when the console drops on Nov. 12.