Funny story. Eons ago I asked a Call of Duty dev "why don't you release DLC that's story-based?". That was met with a firm no with the explanation being that the development costs around that versus interest in single-player post-release content meant it simply wasn't on their radar. Fast-forward to now, and as we've seen initially with Origins, but with Odyssey, Ubisoft has proven there's more than enough value in seasonal content, especially in open-world games. And now Valhalla is following suit.

Here's the official sagas vocal:

Today, Ubisoft announced the Assassin’s Creed® Valhalla post-launch plan, including a Season Pass with two major expansions of narratively driven gameplay and an exclusive quest. Additionally, all Assassin’s Creed Valhalla players will have access to free seasonal content including in-game events and festivals, new settlement buildings, services and games modes. Ubisoft also announced that Discovery Tour, the educational tool that lets anyone explore the game in a conflict-free environment, will be available for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla in 2021.

With the Season Pass, players will discover new territories and stories through two major expansions and an exclusive quest. Once available, expansions will be accessible early from within the structure of the main game, providing a meaningful story that adds to Valhalla’s rich open world. In addition, all players will enjoy new free content through Seasons, with each Season lasting three months – Season 1 will launch in December 2020, extending the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla experience post-launch.

The Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Season Pass is included in the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Gold, Ultimate and Collector Editions and is available for purchase separately for $59.95 AUD. The Season Pass includes:

• The Legend of Beowulf quest: In this exclusive quest, players will uncover the monstrous truth behind the legend of Beowulf, available on the launch day of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.
  
  
• Expansion 1 - Wrath of the Druids: In this new adventure, players will journey to Ireland and unravel the mysteries of an ancient and mysterious druidic cult, tracking and discovering their members. Diving into Gaelic myths and folklores, they’ll need to fight their way through haunted forests and dazzling landscapes while gaining influence among Gaelic kings.
  
  
• Expansion 2 - The Siege of Paris: In The Siege of Paris, players will have the chance to relive the most ambitious battle in Viking History with key historical figures of war-torn Frankia. During this key moment in history, players will infiltrate the fortified city of Paris and the River Seine under a prolonged siege, uncover enemy secrets, and form strategic alliances to safeguard their clan’s future.

In addition, all players will have access to an extensive line-up of free seasonal content including new narrative content and in-game events available after launch. Each season will last three months and will come with exciting content, accessible to all player types and levels of progression, focused on gameplay and world evolution.

Season 1 will launch in December 2020 with the following content planned:

• A new settlement area, allowing players to continue to grow and evolve their settlement.
  
• A traditional Viking Festival: the Yule Festival, for players to experience in their settlement.
  
• A new game mode: the River Raids. Building on Valhalla’s core raiding mechanic the mode will deliver a dynamic, challenging and highly replayable raid experience.
  
• The addition of the Ranks for Jomsviking: in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla players can not only create their lieutenant to be part of their raiding crew, but also recruit some from their friends and the community. In Season 1, players will see an update to the Jomsviking feature which will allow their Jomsviking to earn XP and rank up – the higher will be the rank of the lieutenant, the more silver players will earn when recruited by other players.
  
• Finally, as for each season, Season 1 will also come with new player skills and abilities, weapons and gear, and cosmetic items for the settlement, longship, horse and raven.

Season 2 will launch in March 2021 with a new game mode that builds on Valhalla’s core combat experiences, a new Jomsviking update, festivals in the Settlement, new gear and cosmetic items, and more. More information about Season 3 and 4 will be come at a later time.

There will be more to come as the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla development team is committed to support the game and continued improvement of the core experience with additional content, yet to be revealed.

There's a lot to unpack there. But what all of this means is your life as a viking settler, raider, political manipulator and, of course, as an assassin, is going to be a journey worthy of its own songs and grand tales; a saga for the ages.

Watch a trailer highlighting all of the above, embedded below.