Ubisoft Forward: Trailers & release dates for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Far Cry 6, Watch Dogs: Legion & more

Ubisoft brought the goods at today’s socially-distanced, online-only Ubisoft Forward fan event, revealing (finally!) release dates for the Nordic-themed Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and the long-developing techno-dystopian adventure Watch Dogs: Legion. Jammed with more gameplay footage and trailers than you can shake a Viking axe at, the event also revealed a first look at Far Cry 6 (which also got a release date), and gave fans new info on free-to-play battle royale shooter Hyper Scape.

Inspired “by Norse myths and England’s pagan roots,” according to Ubisoft, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla took top billing with a big 30-minutes slice of new gameplay footage as your Viking clan fights to occupy new lands after fleeing across the North Sea from their conflicted, resource-scarce Norwegian home.

As Viking chieftan Eivor (who can be played as either male or female character), you’ll sail to the 9th Century heart of Anglo-Saxon territory to put down new roots at a new settlement where every upgrade and improvement will be earned through living off the land and winning battles against the fiercely proud locals. Ubisoft delivered a separate 10-minute walkthrough that highlights Valhalla’s gameplay and story features, which you can check out below:

As the clip teases, the Anglo-Saxon enemies in Valhalla will boast the largest variety of baddies in any Assassin’s Creed game to date. You and your AI-assisted clan will take the fight to the natives one-on-one in groups, drawing on an array of new-to-the-series combat moves. Eivor can dual-wield every close-range weapon in the game (even shields), and will lead the charge as your hardened Viking army lays siege to inland castles in a series of pretty epic-looking, multi-phased set pieces that await once you’re deeper into the story.

Assassin's Creed Valhalla Releases Nov. 17 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Google Stadia, and PC; as well as for the PS5 and Xbox Series X sometime after the new consoles arrive this holiday season.

Far Cry 6 has only been officially confirmed for a few days, following Ubisoft’s tease last week that The Mandalorian and Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul villain Giancarlo Esposito will take up the role of "El Presidente" Anton Castillo, the new sequel’s main antagonist who rules a criminal empire from his fictional Caribbean-themed island. But that didn’t stop the team from showing up for Sunday’s event with a trio of brand-new trailers, including a cool behind-the-scenes talk with Esposito about how he prepared for the role. 

Far Cry 6 is bringing the series’ first-person, open-world mayhem to consoles on Feb. 18 of next year. Like its AAA Ubisoft stablemates, Far Cry 6 is also getting a multi-gen release, heading to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5,  Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Google Stadia, and PC. 

Watch Dogs: Legion has been in the works for a while, with Ubisoft sharing an innovative new gameplay device at last year’s E3 that shows off how pretty much any NPC can become a hackable, controllable character. The third installment in the Watch Dogs series showed up at Forward with tons of new looks at its politically frayed, near-future dystopian London setting, and dropped the most important detail of all: a release date that will have us hacking in time for Halloween.

Check out the presentation walkthrough, as well as the gameplay overview clip that Ubisoft unveiled today:

Originally slated to arrive in March, Watch Dogs: Legion will release on Oct. 29 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Google Stadia, and PC. A next-gen version is also planned, and anyone who buys an Xbox One copy of the game will be able to upgrade to the Xbox Series X version for free via Microsoft’s new Smart Delivery feature. 

Hyper Scape, Ubisoft’s new entrant in the crowded battle royale space already dominated by games like Fortnite and Apex Legends, came with new details and a cinematic trailer that highlights how the futuristic cyberpunk-y shooter aims to scale amazing heights in the virtual city of Neo Arcadia to add a new vertical dimension to a familiar genre. Hyper Scape’s beta play period is now live, with the free-to-play game’s wide release date yet to be announced.

Hyper Scape is currently playable in beta for PC players only, with plans to eventually make the leap over to Sony and Microsoft consoles. There’s no word yet on whether it’ll also land on the Nintendo Switch.